ANCIENT HISTORY

good morning

to all of you

I am Devraj and i have been given a responsibility for

helping you with your preparation of a part of your

syllabus called ancient and medieval history

if you look at the syllabus it seems that ancient and medieval

parts of history are important

mainly for pt and the parts of history

important for men's like the modern indian history and the indian culture

they have been somehow separated and specifically mentioned in

the syllabus of demands very good morning to all of you

but practically uh this way a subject cannot be segregated

all subjects have their basic integrity

so if you look at the questions both pt and mains you will find that cultural section is

important for pt parts also

and whatever we popularly believe to be important for pt like ancient and medieval history

they are also important for mains so in fact we cannot segregate

our preparation and also the subject itself

i will just highlight some of the questions asked in the previous years

in the main examination in the cultural section and

those questions require a very good understanding of what we consider to be ancient and

medieval and what we popularly but quite mistakenly believe to be important only

for pt so if you are going through the question papers

you will find questions like this this is just for the sake of example

uh i don't remember the exact words but i remember the spirit of that question

that was about coins uh coins of the gupta and post gupta age

now and examiners demanded some sort of explanation for some sort of deterioration in the

technological and aesthetic aspects of the coins in the post gupta and

to some extent also the gupta age apparently this question is about coins

points are also accepted as parts of archaeological findings as

parts of artifacts of the past but can we explain whatever decline is taking place

in the sheer volume of the coins during that time

or in the qualities of the coins of that time without understanding

the general economic conditions of the time and without understanding

the general political conditions of that time we all understand

and to some extent we are familiar with that in the post gupta age we find some

sort of contraction of economic activities

what we can also call decline of economic activities when we have contraction of economic

activities when we have relative decline in the exchange network

when we have decreasing volume of monetization

so who can pay more attention to coins and their aesthetic qualities or their

technological sophistication and apart from reflecting the volume of

monetization or the complexities of the exchange network coins also reflect what we can say

political authority so when we have a general decline

in the political condition of the country in terms of decentralization

and some other weaknesses if that is the situation then

how coins are going to mark the political position when the political position itself

witnessing some sort of decline due to erosion of royal authority and due to growth of feudalism

so i hope understand this connection the purpose behind all these is

that uh we should not separate you know history or this so-called ancient and medieval

history from the so-called cultural section popularly we believe that

indian culture is important for men's and ancient and medieval only important

for pt but on closer scrutiny of the questions the way they are asking in both pt and

mains it seems that this segregation is just for the sake of convenience

of coverage in the classes and not for the sake of segregating your

pt preparation from mains and vice versa i think this point is

understood now when we talk about

history i hope you must have developed by this time

some idea of history this discipline is

basically what we can say a study of the

evolution of cultures

or culture and civilizations

now this is how we can perceive the subject we are not trying to define the subject

because academic definitions are at times quite complicated

so very simple we all understand that history deals with the past

but that past is not the geological past that past is associated with human

achievements that past we can say human past

it is also not about biological evolution of human beings or anthropological evolution of the

lifestyle for all these purposes we have other disciplines

in history we generally focus upon the study of cultures and civilizations and their evolution

from one position to another this is how we can perceive the

discipline called history now leaving aside all these complicated definitions

provided by historians or the popular perceptions which are there regarding the subject

that history is a study of the evolution of cultures and civilizations this is

not a story this is a study and any process of study is likely to be

somewhat subjective so here it is not only about finding the objective truth

related to the past it is also about interpreting whatever facts and details which are

available to us on the basis of the sources that we possess and that's why

history always appears to be somewhat controversial subjects because while interpreting the past

while interpreting the facts and details whatever are known related to our past on the basis of

available sources we are also guided by our

socio-ideological locations is it okay and these socio-ideological locations

determine our perception and our perception determines our

understanding of the subject history and this is not only about history this can

be said about almost all the major subjects of the time we have started appreciating

in social sciences particularly and to some extent also in the natural sciences that any

social observation is not free from the observer there is a lot

on the part of the observer which determines the social perception and this is something which is particularly

true in case of history so this is just for the sake of understanding in history we study the

evolution now in any process of evolution what we have understood it is

that history is a study so subjective differences are likely to be inherent part of this subject this is

not an objective story which is narrated in a uniform way

though of course we find some general patterns of evolution which are agreed upon by

the historians but in the light of the controversial nature

of this subject called history we can easily understand that those controversies are mainly related to the

study of the subject from different angles from different perspectives

now in any process of evolution we can have some elements of change

we can also have some elements of continuity

now through this story of what we can say changes and

continuities we have the process of evolution of history

now evolution of what it is not about the human evolution it is also not about the biological

evolution it is not about the evolution of our solar system or the evolution of our earth

or the evolution of different species we find on this planet

it is about evolution of cultures and evolution of civilizations and in this world we have many cultures

in this world we have many civilizations and regarding those cultures and those

civilizations we can have different perspectives and that's why we have some people some

historians who call history not as a monolithic story or

monolithic study rather we have started using the terms like histories so it is not about history of

india it is about histories of india i hope understand the difference between history of india which appears to be

somewhat monolithic and generally agreed upon version of the indian history but when we say histories of india it

means the history of india perceived from different perspectives and the different

narratives related to the indian history whatever be the case

if history is a study of cultures or studies of cultures or civilizations

we need to discuss something about the cultures and civilizations

the concepts like cultures and civilizations so i think the two way

communication

is possible now yes ganji venkata satis

notes will be dictated notes will be also shared with you provided to you

the class will be based on both discussion and dictation for the time being i have not started

any topic so dictation is not required this is a general talk related to the subject

that we are supposed to start today is it okay

so don't worry about the notes you will have plenty of them both dictated in the class room and also

provided through other channels

so

what i am talking about is that what is culture

what is civilization the way we understood what is history

and how history can be understood differently

can i have some answers from your side because two way

communication is possible

this is not clearly visible

uh the students are asking for books and reference materials for ancient and

medieval i will come to all these issues don't worry about this

i will be suggesting books and

reference materials

i think you people already know a lot of things about the books and reference materials

so in the classroom scheme it is not going to be a very major issue i will be suggesting you

for the time being i think we should pay attention to the discussion which i am trying to initiate

with you related to the nature of the subject and that can help you a lot in

conceptualizing the subjects and in understanding the facts and details are related to

this subject otherwise in history i hope understand there is a very wrong and popular

perception that we just need to mug up certain facts and details

but that general perception is not shared by the examiners

as reflected in the questions the way they are asking in both pt and domains

so don't worry about books and reference materials i will be suggesting

i will be dictating you notes i will be providing you with the notes for the time being i think you should

pay attention to what we are discussing and this discussion is not supposed to be what we can say

meaningless thing i i will try to give you some meaning to the subject called history so that the facts and details and the

approaches that we are going to follow in this class become more comprehensible to you

uh then our culture is agriculture and the way we follow our culture is

civilization total classes required for ancient and medieval history sir

this will depend also upon the way these classes are evolving but generally we plan for nine to ten classes

is it okay so

if we talk about culture we can easily understand it

by contrasting it with the nature that when we say culture

we include in it everything and anything that is supposed to be a product of

human ingenuity in which we have involvement of human creativity

to some extent if i use a very popular expression

you must have heard of man-made so history is man-made

because history studies culture and culture includes everything that we can perceive as man-made

is it okay and what we people have made so we have made

so many things we have discovered scientific laws

we have created artifacts even modern complex machinery

we have invented new ideas we have invented so many things

it means from material objects to the ideas

all these things can be included as part of a culture

if that can be seen as if that can be perceived as made by man or modified by

man so very simple example if we find

a piece of stone lying on the ground that piece of stone is part of the nature because not man-made made by god

or even if modified modified by the natural forces not by the man so that piece of a stone lying on the

ground may be part of nature but the moment that piece of a stone is

picked up and is modified as a tool or even used as a tool

that is going to be part of the nature part of the culture now this understanding will help you in

tracing the beginning of history beginning of history

we find with the beginning of making of the culture and making up the culture simply means anything that was created

by men related to ideas or related to material objects

which can easily be contrasted with what we can perceive as nature or the things which are made by

god so river ganga not part of history not part of

culture because river ganga is made by the god so part of the nature

but the moment we perceive ganga as mother so river ganga may be part of the nature

but mother ganga is part of the culture likewise in our culture we have a tendency to personify the nature and the

natural forces so for example so long as we consider himalayas just to

be a series of mountains himalayas the nature

but the moment we person if i himalaya or for that matter any other

creation of the nature like the bindiyas that become part of the culture it means

the way nature is perceived is also part of the culture and history is a study of the evolution

of cultures it means history is a study of what the way we have evolved from one

ideological position to another and from one material condition to another

one material condition to another so from paleolithic stone tools to bronze tools to iron tools

to modern complex machinery we have evolved and in this process of evolution we can

find elements of change we can also find elements of a continuity

likewise we have ideologically evolved that is from one ideological position to

another i will give you example of modern india maybe you are more familiar with the history of modern india

don't you think that the history of modern india was nothing but some sort of ideological evolution

that is from accepting and appreciating the british rule that was supposed to have some

beneficial impact on the indian life you must have heard of the early congress leaders to

criticizing it to negating it and to fighting against it

don't you think it was an ideological evolution from acceptance and appreciation to negation and

what we can say rejection likewise in the course of historical evolution from ancient to modern

we have ideological aspects we have material aspects and we have evolved it is this process

of evolution that we should focus upon in our studies and all the facts and details with which you have some

romantic association due to popular perception they are useless unless until you

understand them as part of these processes or as embedded in the part of this a processes

of evolution from one ideological position to another from one material condition to another so for example if

we have the first urbanization in the indus basin that is what material development

when we have the second urbanization in the gangetic basin that is one aspect of material development

when we have the varna system that is what one aspect of the ideological development and further

modification of the varna system i have understand this these things are what we can say

the core historical processes of the history of this country and unless until we try to perceive the

facts and details as part of these larger processes of evolution related to cultures and related to civilizations

we are not likely to have a better understanding of the subject

for pt and men's so i think we should discard some of the popular notions

related to this subject you just have to know there are certain facts and details for

this i think a guide will be sufficient for you so if you are attending these classes

apart from facts and details you should also focus upon understanding things

so what we have understood till now that we have a discipline called history

and that history is about what a study of the evolution of cultures and

civilizations when we say a study this is never going to be an objective

process and if a study is subjective process we are likely to have differences in the

interpretations of history or in the interpretations of facts and details related to the history

now a study of what the process of evolution and in any process of evolution we have

some elements of change we have some elements of continuity these elements are going to be particularly important

for us once we understand the process of evolution from one ideological position

to another from one material condition to another and these two major dimensions

ideological progress and material progress are part of what we can say a cultural evolution and we can understand

culture as anything and everything that is perceived as man-made which can be easily contrasted with

something which we can perceive as part of the nature or as part of what we can say god made

is it okay now what is civilization we have just understood culture a little

bit about civilization also so see in the course of historical evolution

what we find is that

certain new elements like urbanization

like a script like what we can say greater

cultural complexities

when we start noticing this kind of elements urbanization a script greater cultural or complexities

we also start using the term civilization we also

start using the term a civilization is it okay it means inherently and

basically there is no difference between a culture and a civilization both these terms are or can be used interchangeably

the difference can be noticed only in terms of the level of development of a particular culture

now in the course of cultural evolution that is nothing but progress from one material condition to another one

ideological position to another that is the essence of history

when we start noticing something that we say urbanization that

is rise of urban centers as it happened in the indus basin

and script that is the art of writing the moment we notice these two elements

we start using the term a civilization also but at the same time

when we have urbanization when we have art of writing which is generally accompanied by

estate formation and some other important developments we also notice greater cultural complexities

so now these three major features which can notice which can distinguish a civilization

from a culture now i will give you some practical examples

you must have heard of terms like paleolithic mesolithic we are going to talk about

them i am just giving them as examples for the time being

that paleolithic culture

i think you have not read anywhere expressions like paleolithic civilization

the same is the case with mesolithic mesolithic culture and not mesolithic civilization

neolithic culture and not neolithic civilization chalcolithic culture but not child

politic civilization mega lithic culture

but not megalithic civilization but the moment we reach the indus valley

or harappan culture we also start using the term civilization

though we can still continue with the use of the term culture so we say harappan culture but at the same time we

also say the harappan civilization now what is the reason behind this very simple reason

because in the harappan civilization for the first time we notice the features like urbanization that is a product of what

economic progress and economic development we also notice a script though that

script remains undeciphered that is another issue and we also notice what we can say

greater degrees of cultural or complexities so if that is the case

then we can use the term civilization also for the indus valley civilization or for

the indus valley culture it means after a particular level of development

that is informed by or that is characterized by urbanization and the art of writing

we can use the term terms both terms cultures and culture and civilization interchangeably but not

before the process of urbanization not before the development of the art of writing is it

okay with everyone now i just talked about the process of urbanization

now what is urbanization and how urban sites are identified a little bit discussion on this also

today urbanization is supposed to be a very complex process but there was a time when it was

primarily and mainly associated with economic progress

and that is also supported by modern day understanding of urbanization

you must have heard of there is a very great exercise which we undertake

after every 10 years and that is called senses

and in that exercise we count almost everything including human settlements and we

categorize them some settlements are identified as urban settlements they are further categorized into metro mega that

is another issue but broadly they are categorized into urban and rural settlements now on what

basis we categorize them so we have a census definition of urbanization

and that says something like this i i may not be that precise but i can

still indicate that an urban center is a center

in which we find more than 75 percent of the population male

population engaged in

non-agricultural activities 75 percent of the male population is

engaged in non-agricultural activities and

population density is not less than 400 persons per square kilometer

and the total population is also not less than 5000

forget about the literal connotations of this definition we can find out some tendencies here

which are related to urbanization one thing is very clear that urbanization is about

non-agricultural activities in urban centers we generally find non-agricultural activities

urbanization is also about non-agricultural settlements

urbanization is also about non-agricultural social classes like traders merchants

and non-agricultural activities non-agricultural social classes non-agricultural settlements are likely

to emerge only when we find some possibilities related to surplus production

in agriculture and this surplus production leads to what we can say

diversification of economic activities now when we say diversification of

economic activities that is equal to what we today call economic progress

now as a result of diversification of economic activities we can find emergence of some new craft activities

some new artistic activities we can also find

more and more complex exchange network now exchange of goods and services

when we have that we are going to have traders we are going to have merchants we are going to have craftsmen we are going to have

artisans in that society which had earlier been dominated by hunters food gatherers or simply

peasants now we can see that urban transition urban transformation of that society is

taking place is it okay this is called process of urbanization

that as a result of diversification of economic activities when we find

non-agricultural activities non-agricultural social classes and non-agricultural settlements becoming

prominent we call it urbanization this is exactly what happened in the indus basin

and that's why we call it the first urbanization is it okay

so i hope understand what is called urbanization art of writing script we all understand greater cultural complexities means

that we can identify some general features of the culture but at the same time

since generally when we reach at the level of civilization when we have the process of urbanization

and also the process of estate formation and the development of

art of writing we also start noticing greater degrees of cultural complexities

is it okay so i hope all these terms are clear to

you history process of evolution evolution of what cultures and

civilizations we can understand what is culture that is everything man-made what is civilization man-made but reaching to

the level of organization script and greater cultural

complexities we also understood the process of

urbanization is it okay now

we can perceive history as process of evolution of cultures and civilizations

now when we talk about cultures and civilizations they are multi-dimensional

we have economic aspect we have political aspect we have

social aspects and we have some aspects which we generally call culture

but we can find elements like religion philosophy literature art

artistic activities craft activities they are generally

parts of what we can say more refined aspects of the cultural evolution

or uh the beyonce khatri no need to write just

try to understand everything that is needed to be written in this class i am going to provide

is it okay in form of dictation and suppose if you find anything interested or anything interesting in

this discussion that you can write separately but that is not part of the formal discussion in this class

is it okay so you just try to understand try to

grasp the essence of this subject so that the facts and details of this subject become more meaningful for us

otherwise there will be no benefit of joining classes

because the kind of facts and details we are going to provide those are available in the market just

in a guide of 200 rupees or even less than this cost so why to join a coaching then

if you are simply interested in facts and details is it okay

so we are going to provide everything but if you

think there is something which you can note down on your own as part of

discussion then you can keep on doing that but that is not part of the formal discussion

is it okay so

now as part of history

ancient and medieval which has been

given to me

we are going to talk about the economic aspect let me clear clarify things first

we are going to talk about the political aspect or first social aspect we are going to talk about the political

aspect these three aspects we are going to cover and they all are part of the cultural

evolution because culture is man-made so economic life is also part of culture our social norms and values are also

man-made so what they are also part of the culture

marriage is part of culture verna system is part of culture political life is also man-made so that

is also part of the culture but these are three major areas know providing basis for more refined areas

which are popularly though academically not very correct because when we say culturally it

includes almost everything as we understood today that culture is everything that is

product of human ingenuity but now in cultural section we include

something which is not part of this complex like religion like philosophy

like what we can say architecture

like literature no this is how they have mentioned things in the syllabus art forms

now in this class we are not going to talk about these elements or these aspects

the reason is very simple these areas have been separated to be covered as part of indian culture or art and

culture but as i told you the kind of close connection these

developments have with economic developments social developments political developments

it is at times really very difficult to understand what we discuss here or what we learn here

without understanding the general background created by the economic social and political developments

for example without economic prosperity we are not going to have development of

architecture we are not going to have what we can say rich literature we are also not going to

have art forms and this connection is so close that we can understand it on the

basis of or even on the basis of our common sense academic definitions not required

so as part of this we are now going to focus upon these three major dimensions economic

life social life and political life is it okay not religion philosophy architecture

literature and art forms so this is what we have termed as

ancient and medieval history and this is what has been separated as indian

a culture is this position clear to all of you now as we just understood

that history is process of evolution it means our economy has evolved

from one position to another i will just give you a very simple example that when we talk about history

as evolution history as

evolution so history as evolution includes the process of economic evolution

the process of social evolution and it also includes the process of political evolution

once we find and once we understand the central threads associated with this process of

evolution we can easily understand the importance of or relative importance of

the facts and details associated with this so don't you think that in economic life what we have done is that we started

with what we can say hunting food gathering

there was a time when economic life was based on very simple subsistence patterns like hunting and food gathering

with time of course they continued but we have addition of some new

like fishing like domestication of animals

and why only domestication of animals also domestication of plants and these are major milestones now what

are the beauty facts these major milestones are the pt facts and the process is important for men's i

hope understand this so domestication of animals domestication of plants the moment we

have this we have agriculture the moment we have agriculture we have surplus production

and the moment we have surplus production we have urbanization we just understood the process of urbanization

now if we talk about the economy in ancient age economy in medieval age that is characterized by the processes of

urbanization mainly the first urbanization that took place in the indus valley the second

urbanization that took place in the medieval asari in the gangetic valley or in the middle gangatic basin

and the third urbanization that received impetus when we have the beginning of medieval

age establishment of delhi sultanate and revival of imperial experiments so the

entire economic history of ancient and medieval if we try to find out the central threat

that is around the process of urbanization and that process of urbanization the way it

has been facilitated we still continue with hunting food gathering societies you can easily find them even today

these are still practices associated with us but this modern process of urbanization is very complex

so very simple from hunting and food gathering stage of economic evolution

to the modern complex economies and see the variety of subsistence

patterns that we have today it is this process of evolution and the

important landmarks associated with this process of evolution which is going to be important for us

is it okay with everyone

so from hunting and food gathering to modern complex economy in which you are also preparing for civil services

don't you think that and this despite all regard and

respect for your personal ambitions and objectives to

serve the nation lofty ideals associated with this preparation don't you think that this preparation is

also about finding a job getting a job it is also related to your subsistence

so from hunting and food gathering to preparation for civil services this is how our subsistence strategies have

evolved over a period of time characterized by major landmarks

characterized by major landmarks like when we find hunting when we find

transition from what we can say subsistence economies to surplus

economies when we have the beginning of urbanization what were the dynamics of the processes

associated with urbanization this is something that we have to understand is it okay

likewise in social aspect if we try to find out the central theme that is also very simple

to understand it is believed that early societies were egalitarian societies why egalitarian

societies because their subsistence was very simple and there is a very complex

relation between economic and social life in fact history studies all dimensions of life in an integrated way in an

interrelated way otherwise we have different disciplines we have economics we have

social sciences we have sociology also but in history also we understand economy we study society

so we in history we study in an interrelated manner and on an evolutionary scale this is what we can

say the essence of the subject history so history unites all the dimensions of life and try to understand them in an

integrated manner so how economic life associated with the social life how both associated with the political

life how all these three associated with the cultural life is it okay it is this inter relationship

that is going to be more important so when we have more complex economy

when we are also going to have more complex society so suppose if in a

society we have hunters and food gatherers only so society is very simple everyone is hunter everyone is food together

other activities are yet not taking shape but the moment we have more stability based on domestication of

animals and domestication of plants that is nothing but agriculture and the moment we have surplus production now society is going to

witness what we just discussed a little earlier diversification of economic activities and the moment we have diversification

of economic activities in the society we are going to have new social classes

earlier only hunters only food gatherers now in that society we can have traders merchants artisans craftsmen bankers i

hope understand this so more complex economic development more complex societies so when we talk

about social evolution that is history as evolution we have a primary stage that is called

the stage of egalitarianism that is egalitarian societies that is society is not

characterized by cultural differences natural differences are inherent they are likely to take place

they are likely to remain in any society but when we talk about cultural differences the differences which are

man-made that is differences based on material possessions that how much material possessions you

have and also the differences based on ideological position and how respectful position you occupy

in the ideological scheme of that society so if that is the case then

in the early societies when economies were simple societies were also simple we call them egalitarian societies but

the moment we have surplus production the moment we have shift towards urbanization

we also find processes like social differentiation and social stratification

differentiation when we have emergence of different classes and a stratification when we have their

arrangement according to their material position and ideological position

and through this we have reached a position i hope understand that

differentiated well-differentiated societies stratified societies initially on material basis later on

also on ideological basis so from egalitarian societies to differentiated

societies or a stratified societies to modern complex societies

this is the essence of this progress this is the essence of history as evolution in social dimension

so whatever facts and details we are going to understand as part of ancient and medieval if they are related to the

social aspects they are primarily concerned with transformation of egalitarian societies into

differentiated and stratified societies and later on also what we can say

their modification that is modified societies just have this in mind even if you are

not writing it's okay now when we talk about the political life

as evolution so you must have heard of there were societies which are called

a stateless societies that is societies without evolution of political life without

evolution of ruling classes without evolution of the institution of a state now stateless societies or tribal

societies with their system of what we can say chiefdom or chiefdoms

what we can say state societies state a societies

state formation and when we talk about estate formation that is

we have processes like you must have heard of primary state formation that is estate formation for the first time

secondary state formation

that is a state formation not for the first time but by what we can say

in those areas in which already some state structures had existed

based on primary secondary division we also have what we can say tertiary estate formation

so when we have janna's to janpadas in the encentage in the badi cage later

by the cage particularly that is example of primary state formation in the north india

when we have the sangam age polities in the south in the early christian centuries

they reflect what a state formation for the first time so that is example of primary state formation

but when we have the rise of saturnaz in the dukkhan after the decline of the mauryas that is example of

secondary state formation when we have arrival of foreign ruling groups like shakas kushanas later on

even turkish people that is what part of tertiary state formation

on the whole we can say that when we talk about political history or political evolution

which is part of overall cultural evolution we have to primarily concern ourselves

with the process of estate formation and how we have emergence of ruling

classes how the ideological basis of a state how the

institutions of a state like army bureaucracy revenue system judicial system

all these things are evolving as a part of the general process of historical

evolution now something about the terms like ancient

and medieval also what do you mean by ancient history what do you mean by medieval history

generally we while mugging up the facts and details we tend to forget this kind of things we

don't pay attention to how modern is different from medieval how medieval is different from ancient again no need to

write but a general understanding okay these phases of history first thing

is that they are not completely isolated we have ancient norms values and sin

practices as part of medieval and both ancient and medieval as part of modern

so we have some basic integrity of history in the course of this evolution

but despite this we identify some phases and this identification is just for the

sake of convenience just to facilitate the understanding not

to complicate the understanding now ancient cannot be defined i am not

going to make any attempt to define what is ancient the same is the case with material same is the case with modern

but i am going to give you some idea even otherwise we are living in the

post-modern age and in the post-modern age we generally don't prefer academic definitions we try to perceive things as

they are so if that is the case then suppose if i am talking about the economic life

and if i am talking about economic life and i am saying things like hunting food gathering

ask avenging agriculture subsistence economy

if i'm talking about feudal lords if i'm talking about

serbs s-e-r-f-s or peasants who are celebs basically

if i am talking about craft production if i am talking about artisanal mode of production

something that is also called domestic mode of production or feudal mode of production now what kind of impressions you are

likely to have on your minds that i am talking about ancient economy or i am talking about

medieval economy but i am not talking about the modern economy is it okay though all these things are still part

of the modern economy we still practice agriculture we still practice all those things that i

mentioned but at the same time we have in the modern time certain new developments

and those new developments can be characterized or can be identified as

indicators or cultural markers for what is called economic modernity so for example

now instead of talking about domestic mode of production if i say industrial mode of production or industrial

revolution if i say capitalism if i say

or if i talk about modern economic theories like the theories of classical economists like adam smith

david ricardo you think that now you are going to have some impression

that i am talking about an economic system which is modern in its nature

so economic modernity is identified with capitalism economic modernity is identified with industrial revolution

and when we talk about predominance of agricultural activities when we find predominance of artisanal or crafts mode

of production domestic mode of production we find unscented medieval but ancient

and medieval is still continuing but we have emergence of some new tendencies

also so i hope you understand how these phases are identified second

example let me take this example from political life

suppose if i talk about

things like kings queens

princes courtiers umpires

conquests annexations subjects feudal lords

what kind of impression you are likely to have in your mind am i talking about modern political system

no i am talking about either ancient or medieval

though in modern ages also we have kings and queens in certain parts of the world that is another issue the way we have

even today agriculture that is another issue but when i talk about this kind of

things naturally you are going to have an impression

that i am talking either about ancient or about medieval is it okay

but the moment i start talking about sovereignty of nations

nationalism nation states popular sovereignty

sovereignty of the people plebiscites referendum

election and electoral processes fundamental rights

citizenship separation of powers constitutional government

constitutionalism extension of franchise

executive judiciary now what kind of impression you have on your mind am i talking about unseen political

systems i don't think so

there will be a general impression created on your mind that i am talking about any modern a political system

any modern nation and the modern system of governance so this is how

what we find is that in the process of historical evolution based on some dominant cultural traits

based on some dominant cultural traits we identify certain phases which are

termed as ancient medieval or modern is it okay

and medieval or modern but men's medieval and scent may be integral

parts of even modern existence and this transition is never complete

it is always partial i will just give you an example suppose if i talk about the indian political

life we all are familiar with the indian constitution is it

okay generally consider that indian constitution is one of the most

modern constitutions of the world anything

in terms of ideas in terms of institutions which is modern or which was closer to

what we perceive as modern was accepted by the makers of the indian

constitution is it okay then

can we say the same thing about our society also can we say that our social life or our

society is as modern as our political life or our constitution

can we say the same thing about our economy also i don't think so

our quality and our political life is more modern than our society and maybe

our economy is even more conservative than what we can say our society and a

polity so we have different degrees of transition you know towards modernity in different areas of

life in different walks of life but for the time being what we can say i

hope this scheme is understood so in the first hour of this class which started

at 10 am we have not covered any topic we have just

had had a general talk regarding the subject with an objective to change

your perception which is guided by the popular perceptions related to this subject

that here we just have facts and details which we need to mug up and since this power ancient and medieval is

particularly important for pt so you would like to be bombarded with facts and details that is not going to happen

understanding is very important first we cannot understand we cannot retain

the facts and details without linking them with the process of historical evolution

secondly whatever we are going to study as part of ancient and variable is

equally important for cultural section because the way they are asking questions in the cultural section

if we lack the understanding of economic life social life and political life

providing the general context for the cultural evolution the quality of our answer is going to be

seriously compromised is it okay with everyone so we have understood what is history

we have understood history as a process of evolution process of evolution of what so cultures

and civilizations we have understood the terms like culture and civilizations

culture which is man-made can be contrasted with nature which is supposed to be god made

civilization a relatively advanced stage of cultural evolution characterized by writing characterized

by urbanization characterized by greater social complexities or cultural

complexities we have also understood that in the

course of evolution we have changes from one material condition to another from one

ideological position to another and this has taken place in almost all dimensions of our cultural life

certain dimensions you will study as part of indian culture or art and culture as the way

that portion of your syllabus is being described nowadays we are in these classes going to discuss

some aspects of cultural evolution like economic social and or political and there if we

try to find out inherent historical processes we need to understand so in economic

life it is all about urbanization in social life it is all about

dilution of egalitarian societies and emergence of differentiated stratified and even

modified societies and in political life it is all going to be about the state of

formation primary secondary and a tertiary now this is the essence of whatever we have discussed

is it okay now let us be more specific

one thing that you people have to do on a regular basis is that stay in touch with stay in connection

with the question papers for both pt and mains only then you are going to understand

what is happening in this class

and that will also give you some sense of discrimination

and don't expect in this classes that another guide will be prepared for you by bombarding you with just facts and

details here the focus will be on understanding parts so that you can appreciate the

facts and details that you find in the class and also elsewhere

one thing that we are not going to follow the conventional ways with which you are more familiar and at times also

consider to be the standard way of learning we need to change our approaches in the

light of the changing approaches of epsc epsc is transforming itself epsc has been quite dynamic institution in terms

of asking questions but our preparation is sometime

quite aesthetic guided by old approaches so we are going to make a bold departure

from that old approaches

even at the risk of at times things falling on the zone of rejection

so being useful is more important than any other things in the

profession now with this general

observation related to the subject now let us be more concrete and let us start

writing something now now in this class we are going to follow

both discussion method and dictation method i will also be sharing some notes with you

class notes and those class notes are going to be integral part of this class scheme so if

you are taking these classes seriously you will have to take those notes also very seriously

is it okay so in this class we are going to follow discussion method

dictation classroom dictation and also sharing of some materials and all are part of the same scheme

now there are certain topics which can easily be understood while

writing about them in that cases we can simply

obviate or we can as a time saving measure we can avoid

unnecessary discussions but even if if you think that some discussion is required i think two-way communication

is there so you can always ask me for those kind of explanations there are certain things which i would

be explaining in this class and despite my all sincere effort to

dictate everything that i explain in these classes if something is you think if something

is missing so you can ask me i will be properly dictating that aspect is it okay

and then combined with class notes they are going to provide an integrated whole

now an old query and that is related to the reference material for

ancient and medieval so for anscent and medieval you have to rely upon the class notes

when we say class notes here i include both whatever is dictated

in this class and whatever is provided to you

in this class apart from this class notes you can rely upon ncert textbooks

of plus 2 label that is 11th and 12th

now in the market there are many ncrts old ones new ones we have other tamil nadu boats and other boats

choose according to your convenience any book which is a standard textbooks please

avoid guides they are suicidal they just create an illusion of preparation

so i am not going to suggest you any guide i would be suggesting you text books

preferably of ncrt what is important is that they should be of 11th and 12th

standard because if you start from the sixth standard i don't think that you'll even

be in a position to pass the matriculation so one book for sixth seventh

eighth at ninth standard i think we have two books the same is the case with the tenth so

now how many books will be there so in any case this exam is not about

what we can say extraordinary coverage it is about extraordinary command over what is ordinary so

extraordinary facts and details are not needed extraordinary command is needed

so pay attention to 11th and 12th standard ncrt books

choose according to your convenience old or new if you ask me to suggest you something

i would be still suggesting you the old ncrts old ones when we say old nc artists so

here we have some authors whose books are very famous here we have rs sharma

we here we have satish chandra this two now these people had written books for

ncert but in due course of the time ncrt stopped

their publication now the same books of arya sharma published by oxford publication

and satishandra published by orient black swan

so you get the old pirated versions which are available in the market

old ncrts of rs sharma and satishandra arya sarma was for ancient

satish chandra for medieval

if you don't find the old text books go for

the same books published by new publications ra sarma ancient history published by oxford

publication and medieval history of satishandra published by

orient blacks one publication is this a position clear to all of you

now you have to pay attention to the class class notes textbooks and not the guides

with time you will yourself be in a position to decide what to read what not to read but don't start your preparation

with what we can say with a faulty approach

those people who think that their concepts are clear they understand the historical processes

well they understand what is the subject called history they also understand what is important in history

for those people there is no limitation they can read anything and everything

is it okay now rahul srivastava is

asking a very important question here he said do we need to read

all these books as we have only 85 days for exam so if you have 85 days for exam or if

you are appearing this year please mark my words if you are

appearing this year that is in the coming exam what rahul says that 85 days are left

please don't read anything else except the class notes which i am going to provide you

in form of dictation or in form of other in other forms because you will not have time

is it okay so don't dilute your focus just stay connected with the class notes

so this is for those people who are appearing this year for those people who are appearing next year they have plenty

of time they should avoid guides and they should pay attention to the ncrt textbooks also

and whatever materials provided by the institute that is reason is

vision materials are supposed to be qualitatively superior to whatever is available in the market

so you can rely upon them also and rahul for people like you who are going to

appear in the examination just after 85 days you can also have after understanding

these basic concepts and basic having basic facts in this class you can also resort to a strategy that

is called surgical strike is it okay surgical strike means if you think that in any area in any portion

you need some special emphasis some special attention so there you can consult ncrt textbooks is it okay or for

that matter anything is it okay but do come back to the class notes

after surgical let's try what is our modus operandi that we come back to

our homeland is it okay it is something like this after having class notes and

whatever you have in the class notes if you think if you feel that in some areas some more attention

is required then go for just only those areas and come back to the

basics is it okay rahul madhu is asking sir for this year prelims how many previous

year papers do we need to uh to

do we need to be solved madhu i think

for the last 10 years and don't solve them as such just

stay in touch with them so that you have some familiarity with the patterns of some exposure to the

words instructions given that that should be the objective

but there are very less questions asked from ancient individual

ganji venkata satis that is not our concern there may be very less questions asked

but who is going to take guarantee that next year epsc is not going to ask

questions from ancient and materials actions who will take guarantee will we will you be taking this guarantee

so so long as incent and medieval part of the syllabus we have to prepare these parts

quite earnestly without being diluted by the temporary fluctuations that we notice in the

pattern of upsc those trends are always ever shifting kind of trends

so bottom line is ganji benkata satis

that we should prepare all aspects at a minimum satisfactory level and that

minimum satisfactory level is the class notes and whatever is being covered in the class at least this much we should know

otherwise upsc you know the nature of this commission and the nature of the questions

so at least minimum preparation everywhere is required

is this okay so i will never advise you to leave ancient and medieval simply

because in few years or in some previous years questions had not been asked

unexpected lines but then there is no guarantee that trends

will not be changed so maybe next year you have more questions from ancient or more question from medieval

and that's why i i tell you that a minimum degree of attention must be given to almost all sections all parts

of your syllabus and this kind of coverage is very important

otherwise you know preparation becomes quite weak is it okay

sir can you share the cover page of the old anxieties i will try to share but not for the time being

just go with the names of authors aaresh sharma and satish these are very famous books any book

a shop will uh i help you here and if you are trying to

purchase online then just go with the names of authors oxford publication

and orient black swan satishandra and and ancient but i will try to share the

cover page for the timing that is not available to me

is is this clear to all of you

anything else that you want to ask before we shift to the concrete topics

concrete themes

two cover pages are there for the same author

you people can do one thing that you people share the cover pages if you can here

and i will be suggesting which one

so anything else you people want me to discuss related to the subject related

to the approach and please don't try to mug up things

don't try to finalize things try to familiarize

this exam is never about a recall this exam is about recognition epc gives you four options now you can

easily imagine the degrees of difficulty which might have been there for you had you pc asked questions like this you

fill in the blanks and without or any option so in any case this exam is about what

recall recognition it is not about recall so don't try to mug up things like this

okay i have remembered this much that will not serve the purpose you have to read so many things eps is not

interested in your knowledge how much knowledge you possess upsc is interested in your processing skills so

possession of knowledge is important but more important is the processing of knowledge is it okay application of the

critical faculties of your mind so just try to familiarize

don't try to finalize stay in constant touch the things which are important are going

to be automatically remembered is it okay

sir this satishandra book is a standard book i guess ncr yes yes the same book

asking sir while reading ncrt problem is segregating fact as purpose of pre

as well as as means please give some suggestions regarding this this is by rishabh arisa you don't try to segregate things

you try to understand anxieties is it okay and that's why i was suggesting don't

try to mug up things is it okay just expose yourself to the

pages of ncrt and this exam is never going to be about recall it is about recognition

you will not realize this but you will be i think recognizing the facts and details in the examination hall if you

have a fair idea and fair exposure to the ncrt textbooks

and don't segregate now if you are appearing this year in the examination hall this is not time for notes making

notes we are trying to help you in the classroom is it okay

and even otherwise if you are reading ncrt for this year that will not be advisable as i discussed a little

earlier but of course if you are reading it for the next year then don't

bother about what is important for pt what is important for men's you just try to understand what is written in the

ncit textbooks and the important details would be automatically remembered is it okay

so now let us be more specific and let us talk about some concepts

first and then gradually things will things would evolve

now start writing few lines make a heading write pre-history

pre-history they can ask you questions based on statements

and then do stay in touch with the question paper so that you could process anything and everything that is happening in this class in the question

answer forms so write something about prehistory now

uh if you have any problem related to the writing speed you can share that problem

i will try to adjust the writing speed according to your pieces

and sir we have to make separate notes by us referring to other books

or what we have to do you are going to have

notes in the classroom itself after that you must have heard of there

is a principle called shakti bhakti do as much as you can but without developing panic

what you have to do you just have to read those books fastly speedily revise them

try to understand them try to family arise nothing else is expected by upsc

is it okay if ac is not interested in the capacity of your mind to memorize things it has

many sources of knowledge it has universities think tanks scholars

thinkers researchers ebsc is interested in your critical faculties of your mind

that given same-sex set of facts and details no in what way you are processing them

and how your processing is going to be different from others so try to understand the nature of this exam and the purpose of this exam and

that will also help you what to do what not to do is it okay so eps is not interested in you simply

because you know that mohammed bin thug shifted the capital from delhi to dalat

this kind of information is available to upsc and government of india from so many other sources

so write prehistory

that pre-history deals with pre-history deals with

pre-history deals with

with the prehistoric with the pre-historic

cultures pre-history deals with the pre-historic

cultures

which are identified as which are identified as

the illiterate illiterate

cultures illiterate cultures of the past

pre-history deals with pre-historic cultures which are identified as

as the illiterate cultures

of the past illiterate cultures of the

past in the absence of in the absence of

in the absence of the development of

in the absence of the development of the art of writing

in the absence of the development of the art of

writing in the absence of the development of the art of writing

it is for this reason it is for this reason

we do not find we do not find

written records or literary sources

it is for this reason we do not find written

records or literary sources

for for their for their

historical reconstruction for

their historical reconstruction

for their historical reconstruction

which is which is solely based on s o l e l y which is

solely based on the which is solely based on the

archaeological sources which is solely based on the

archaeological sources solely based on the archaeological

resources i hope this point is understood that there is a part of human past

in which we do not find development of the art of writing so there is no question of weed finding

written materials or literary sources for historical reconstruction we use the term historical

reconstruction for the art of writing history because cultural traits are reconstructed in the minds of historians

on the basis of the sources which are available and it is for this reason

historical writing is also called the process of historical reconstruction

is it okay so that part of the human past without the art of

writing is known as prehistoric past and such cultures are known as

prehistoric cultures and prehistory specializes in studying these kind of cultures

is this portion clear now we have just made a reference to archaeology and archaeological sources

so i think we need to write few lines also about archaeology

so continue in the same paragraph and right archaeology is

archaeology is archaeology is

the study of a study of

of the physical remains of the physical remains

such physical remains can also be called as cultural remains cultural

remains or material remains

material remains so archaeology is the study of physical

remains cultural remains or material remains

of the past societies of the past

societies of the past societies

is it okay this is the subject matter of archaeology

and physical remains cultural remains or material remains are found discovered

studied and based on those studies we try to reconstruct the cultural traits of the

people who are supposed to have associated with those cultural remains or those physical remains

this we can understand also on the basis of common essence meanwhile i have an interesting question

and that is from shivam parthak these are like existence of dinosaurs

simon i think you have not paid attention to the discussion that we had in the very beginning thinking that to be useless

because we are generally in the habit of being bombarded with facts and details

i repeatedly told you people that history deals with the human past

it is not about evolution of the earth it is also not about evolution of

different species on this planet it is about making of the culture

do you think culture is associated with dinosaurs that is not the case

so not the existence of dinosaurs but we the human beings we the homo sapiens

sapiens have lived on this planet for a very long period of time and a very long part of that period is

characterized by absence of the art of writing that past is called a prehistoric past and not the past that

is associated with the dinosaurs because that part past is not historical past

so the very purpose of my discussion in the very beginning of this class was to avoid this kind of confusions i hope now

the things are clear is it okay

i think you all are familiar with the processes related to archaeology we have archaeologists we have

historians who explore who excavate historical sites who discover

material objects cultural objects and those objects are studied by different types of experts

and based on the reports prepared by those experts historians develop in their mind cultural traits and this is

the process of what we can say archaeology and since we don't have written records

we have to solely rely upon material findings archaeological findings for the reconstruction of the

history of pre history

now what kind of questions are possible they can simply give you statements before the reconstruction of prehistoric

times or prehistoric cultures we rely upon both literary and archaeological

sources this statement is not going to be a correct statement this statement is

incorrect one because the historical reconstruction of prehistory is based

solely on the archaeological sources as we do not have the written records

is this position clear now write the second concept

after writing pre history write the second concept here

proto history

proto history slide proto history

deals with proto history

deals with with the proto-historic cultures

or proto-historic times proto-historic cultures

proto-historic a cultures

proto-historic cultures or proto-historic times

but these cultures these cultures are these cultures are

supposed to be these cultures are supposed

to be to be the literate

literate ones these cultures are supposed to be the literate this is the difference between

prehistoric and proto-historic these cultures are supposed to be

literate ones but but there is scripts but their

scripts but their scripts still remain

still remain still remain

undeciphered still remained undeciphered

still remain undeciphered so how to differentiate prehistoric

from proto-historic for proto-historic we have the evidence of the art of

writing that is script but we have not deciphered them we have yet not read

them but for the prehistoric phase we have no record

or nothing that can be identified as the art of writing is this position clear to

all of you continue in the same and right

in the absence of in the absence of the decipherment

in the absence of the decipherment

in the absence of the decipherment of the scripts

in the absence of the decipherment of the scripts

even the reconstruction of proto-historic cultures

even the reconstruction of the

proto-historic cultures is

is based on based on the

archaeological sources because whatever is written is useless then

based on archaeological sources based on archaeological

resources continue writing in the same and right

at times at times even some at times

even some illiterate cultures at times even some

illiterate cultures are also

at times even some illiterate cultures are also

some illiterate cultures are also considered as proto-historic

considered as the proto-historic provided

provided they find manson

they find manson in in the literary sources of

in the literary sources of some

contemporary some contemporary literate societies

some contemporary literate societies

some contemporaries literate societies first right then i will be explaining

change your paragraph and write the historical phase

the historical phase starts the historical phase after changing

paragraph you are writing the historical phase starts

the historical phase starts when

when we find both when we find

both literary and archaeological sources

when we find both literary and

archaeological sources literary and archaeological

sources for for the historical

reconstruction for the historical

reconstruction

in the north india in the north india in the north india

it started with though this is controversial little little but that is

not important for us so we can write this in the north india it started with

the vedic literature vedic

literature and the vedic civilization vedic literature and the vedic

civilization that is beginning of historical phase

vedic literature or vedic civilization

whereas in the south india whereas in the

south india it started with

it started with the you must have heard of

with the sangam literature with the sangam literature

that is early christian centuries we can say with the sangam literature

so here what we have written is related to some basic concepts

related to history like pre-history proto-history and history history proper or historical phase

pre-history when we have no written records because we do not have the art of writing

proto history we do have the written records but we have not been in a position to decipher

and historical phase when we find both archaeological sources and the literary resources

and in the north it generally started with the vedic civilization and in the south it started with the so-called

sangha mage now change your paragraph and write

in the indian subcontinent in the indian subcontinent

in the indian subcontinent

all stone age cultures in the indian subcontinent

all stone age cultures keep on writing

all stone age cultures such as paleolithic

mesolithic and neolithic

in the indian subcontinent all stone age cultures such as

paleolithic mesolithic and neolithic

and some of metal age cultures such as

chalcolithic and some metal age cultures such as

chalco lithic and

are considered as are considered as

prehistoric considered as prehistoric

cultures so you have written something and i have explained

something on the board also you can have a look at it that when we talk about prehistoric phase or prehistoric cultures in india

we include all the eastern age culture such as paleolithic mesolithic and neolithic

and some of the metal age cultures such as chalcolithic and megalithic

now they have their cultural differences we are going to talk about them separately as topics

but for the time being we are taking them as examples of prehistoric cultures so paleolithic may be different from

mesolithic mesolithic from neolithic and they have their own differences but

what forms the basis for all of them being clubbed together

as prehistoric culture is their common absence of the art of writing so

art of writing was not known here not known here not known in any of them

and that forms the basis for they being clubbed together as

a prehistoric cultures of the indian subcontinent so if they can

now what kind of questions are possible as i told you that whatever you learn in this class try to process them in

question answer form so they can ask you very simple consider the following that is one two

three four five six which of them are part of the stone age which of them are part of the metal age

which is the earliest phase of paleolithic which is the latest phase of stone age which is

what we can say associated with copper which is so this kind of questions they can also ask you the sequence of

so all of these cultures we are going to talk about them and the way we accept ancient medieval and modern as a stages

of cultural evolution in the same way we can consider prehistory proto history and history as

stages of evolution characterized by certain tendencies characterized by certain

traits and the same is the case with paleolithic mesolithic and neolithic and some others

is it okay yes sangam agent a tamil nadu that marks the beginning of historical

age in the south now continue in the same paragraph

write the proto historic age resume your writing in the same paragraph and write the proto-historic

age the proto-historic age

in the indian subcontinent is in the indian subcontinent is

mainly represented by mainly represented by

the indus valley civilization

or the harappan civilization india's valley a civilization or the

harappan a civilization indus valley civilization or the

harappan a civilization

so we all know that we have discovered the script of the indus valley

or the harappan civilization but have yet not been in a position to

decipher the same so we can easily brand this indus valley as representative of

indian a proto-historic age now while writing about proto-historic

age i have explained certain situations if you go back and revise the notes you will find

that we have written somewhere that at times we also consider illiterate cultures

not as prehistoric but as proto-historic so it is that aspect i need to explain here

so see we have discussed certain situations that we have cultures illiterate ones that is no art of

writing we consider them as pre historic

no art of writing we consider them as prehistoric and we have just taken five cultures

cultural patterns three belonging to the stone age and two

belonging to the metal as part of prehistoric like paleolithic mesolithic

neolithic chalcolithic and all now we have another situation

in which we have the art of writing but we do not find the decipherment

and in this case we have used the term proto historic

absence of the art of writing so there can be no question of decipherment and non-decipherment

so prehistoric art of writing but no decipherment proto

historic and it is the example of proto-historic we just talked about and that is indus valley a civilization

now another situation we have also written something like this that we have the art of writing

and we also have the decipherment and that what we can say availability of literary sources for

historical reconstruction combined with archaeological sources now we can say

that beginning of historic or historical societies or historical age this is what we discussed as part of

vedic age in the north and sangam age in the south if that is the case

then all these three positions are clearly differentiated but then we have written something more

if you revise the notes that at times some illiterate cultures

illiterate cultures like this are not considered as

pre-historic not considered as prehistoric

but considered as proto historic technically

they should have been considered as prehistoric but not considered as prehistoric this

is exceptional situation but considered as proto-historic what is the reason we

have written the reason also provided we find details

or some references to this culture is it okay without the art of writing

in any literate societies of its time so suppose

if we find mention about this culture in this

which is literate so this will be considered not as prehistoric but as proto-historic

now apart from this skh i will give some real life example and i think that will

serve the purpose and that is what we all know about the indus valley civilization

and we know that indus valley people had developed the art of writing we have yet

not been in a position to decipher so based on the second one industry

civilization is part of proto-historic now assume a situation

had writing or script not been developed

by the indus inhabitants in that case what would have been

their status in the history the people of indus valley

would have been considered as part of prehistoric that is illiterate people

but that is not the case because we have a civilization that was contemporary to the indus

valley civilization and that civilization is literate it means the art of writing of that civilization has

been deciphered and some of you may be knowing that civilization was mesopotamian civilization

so in the mesopotamian civilization which is historical because its writing

has been deciphered we find in the mesopotamian literature

certain terms certain references which historians believe

that they refer to the phase of indus valley

or the indus valley civilization itself or some parts of the indus valley civilization

now since the people of india's valley civilization mentioned in the mesopotamian a civilization

so even in the absence of the art of writing the people of harapan civilization would

have been considered as part of proto historic and not as part of a prehistoric

is it okay with everyone so i hope these three phases of history

clear prehistory proto-history history examples of pre-history examples of

proto-history examples of history or historical phase or the beginning of historical phase

and with this understanding that under what conditions we have even illiterate cultures considered as

proto-historic and not as pre-historic all these positions are clear to all of you i hope you have written the notes

and you are also comfortable with the writing speed if you so wish we can increase the speed

now here we have muhammad ayub

he's talking about bill community i don't know in what context do you consider the bill community to be

illiterate there are many people who are illiterate in india

but that is their personal limitation that is not the limitation of indian culture the art of writing is known to

be the people of india art of writing is known to the indian culture and if

today if someone is not familiar with the art of writing of course he's illiterate but he is not

representing the culture he is not representing the civilization indian civilization and this is his personal failure or her

personal failure this is not failure of the indian culture

is it okay so we cannot cite the wheel community today as part of illiterate because in

the real community there may be people who are literate or

the real community is part of the indian culture and indian culture itself is not illiterate is it okay

then sir the literature is restricted to only script or our cave paintings also included

in it as we can comprehend the information they are trying to convey abdul we can do that but cape paintings

are cave paintings they are not accepted as part of a script they are different they are separate

is it okay so this much about what we can say

these concepts now we have to talk about prehistoric

cultures we have just taken them as examples

uh

now we have to take prehistoric cultures as a topic

uh a very humble request to all of you

that while asking questions please

stick to the topic which is being discussed is it

okay because we of course have limited time limited resources

so i cannot pay attention to all the queries

particularly to those which i think not directly related to the topic and is guided by

some individual considerations and not the class considerations so the limited time limited resources

should be utilized for clearing the concepts which we are

discussing in this class and not for extracurricular activities

now uh we have to talk about

pre-historic cultures

pre-historical and here

i would like to share some class notes with you

but that i will be doing meanwhile let us talk about them

we have as part of prehistoric we have mentioned

paleolithic we have mentioned mesolithic

we have also mentioned neolithic we had mentioned them as examples

now we are going to take them as topics then we have

a chalcolithic then we have here

mega ethic these five cultural patterns we have identified as prehistoric

and the basis is their absence of the art of writing their mutual absence of the art of writing

now what to know about them what should we know about them

if you go through the books if you go through the guides you'll find so many details

that will require extraordinary effort extraordinary courage on your part to master them

but that is not the requirement of this exam

you must have heard of that while talking about this exam we generally say

that first know what to know

most of the time we are very enthusiastic in the very beginning of the preparation so we take this to be as

what which book and we just start compiling books is it okay

but that is not the issue when we say to know what to know

that means what is important in a particular topic and more importantly what can be known

about a particular topic no as as part of what we can say the cost benefit analysis is also important

part of this preparation we just cannot go on randomly mugging up all the details related to prehistory

so as i told you in the very beginning we have some stories we have some historical processes

and if we pay attention to those historical processes we can easily find out what is important and what is not

important so if we take these prehistoric cultures

as different stages of historical evolution characterized by certain phases

and not as distinct time brackets because in different parts of the world we have different chronological

framework for these cultures and even today we can share time we can share space but

it is not necessary that by virtue of sharing time and sharing a space we also share the same

nature of cultural development of the same level of cultural development very simple we are all living in the

21st century we are all sharing the time we are all sharing the sps that is the indian subcontinent but do you think

that all indians are living at the same level of cultural development differences can be noticed at

communities at the levels of communities at the levels of different cultures in

the indian subcontinent and even in the same region we can have different cultural groups

with different levels of cultural evolution so you still find nomadic societies you know at times

visiting even the urban centers so this is basic concept that we have to keep in our mind

we can share time we can share a space but it is not necessary

that we also share the same level of development and since history is all about development development has taken place

in the past it is still our consideration important consideration and this is what we are looking forward

to in the future so process of development is very important

and one thing is very clear that development has not taken place in an uniform rate

so there may be a situation that in a particular area few people were living at the paleolithic stage of cultural

evolution and some others were living at the mesolithic some still others living at the neolithic stage

if you just stick to the time frame that is going to be overlapping and that's why it is advisable for you

people to consider these terms not as distinct time brackets of indian

history but as some stages of cultural evolution characterized by certain

features and it is in those features that we should take interest in is it okay

now what kind of features certain features are going to be common so here based on the nature of the

subject based on the way questions are being asked also based on the syllabus

based on the recent trends and the general intellectual climate of our time this is how we can find what is

important and what is not important we can find certain things about them

which are going to be important for example in history chronology is important

time is important but as we discussed that finding absolute time brackets is not only

very difficult but also to some extent useless because what is more important is to

identify the levels of cultural evolution so we cannot have

absolute chronology but we can talk about what we can say the relative chronology that is cultural

sequencing can be done so chronology is important

and when we have longer phases so we can also have what we can say

phases so chronological framework of paleolithic mesolithic neolithic

calculating and megalithic this we are discussing as part of our

strategy to know what to know please pay attention to this otherwise these classes are going to be beyond your comprehension

is it okay then you deserve only to remember some facts and details from the popular guides available in the market

i may sound some harsh but this is the reality of this preparation

so regarding paleolithic mesolithic neolithic alcoholic and megalithic we

we need to know relative chronology or the phases

then the second thing we just talked about if you remember

that historical reconstruction of the prehistoric cultures

is based on material findings based on cultural remains and we do not have

written records so what kind of cultural treatments i think we should have a natural interest

in this so what kind of cultural remains so we generally find

tools as part of material

remains of these people so we should know

something about their tools they can ask you a specific questions which of the following tools are

paleolithic which of the tools are associated with mesolithic which of the tools are associated with neolithic so this is the second aspect

of our strategy to know what to know it is not about which book to read it it is

about what should be known and what should we try to know about certain topics

now the third here you can suggest me also certain

things regarding tools we can know so many things is it okay but here again we have to

limit ourselves is it okay it is not going to be an uncontrolled kind of exploration of the tools spending the

whole classes just on the tools or just you trying to mug up all the styles with which we have tool making

technique of ancient no we have to be guided by some pragmatic considerations that what is possible and

what is not a possible otherwise a single topic can consume all

your time now as we discussed that history is about what process of

evolution history is about process of development and in any process of development

as we see today we have some roles played by

or rather we can say that most crucial roles played by resources and resources are broadly categorized as

natural resources and human resources and it is generally believed that development is a function of both

natural resources and human resources that natural resources combined with human resources and vice versa

this is what is being done by the almost all the agencies which are associated with the developmental

processes in our time so if development is function of natural resources and human resources

and if these stages are associated with the development don't you think that we should know

what kind of resources were available to paleolithic people what kind of resources were available to mesolithic

people what kind of resources opportunities were available to neolithic people this is something that

we should know so here we can talk about the climate and the climatic conditions why climate

because resource availability depends upon the climatic conditions

resource availability this is an important consideration

and so we should know about the kind of climate in which these people found themselves

because it is in the light of the resources offered by this climate

restrictions imposed by this climate we can understand the cultural traits or the

level of cultural development associated with these people and if climate and natural resources are

important human resources are equally important so today human resource development

requires what training and we have so many courses but there was a time when even

the physical evolution of man was part of natural resources you must have heard of some human

species like homo erectus homo sapiens homo sapiens sapiens

so for example when homo erectus the first human spc

who was capable of freeing his or her hands

and walk erect on the basis of feet alone

now hands-free don't you think he was more resourceful than others

when we have greater capacity of mind that is in terms of space available in

the mind when we have more bodily flexibility don't you think it was nothing but human

resource development so here we can also talk about a human species

we can talk about human species now very simple

this man living under this kind of climate

living under this kind of climate means utilizing the resources offered by this

climate and facing the challenges presented by this climate on the basis of whatever

bodily and mental capacities are possessed with the help of these tools

with the help of these tools that is exploiting the resources with the help of these tools

in this phases of development what kind of life

very simple question but what kind of life was lived

by the human species under certain climatic conditions with the help of certain tools

at certain stages of cultural evolution this is a single narrative this is a single story first understand

this story and then prehistory is going to be meaningful otherwise it will just be

some at random you know facts and details found in in different parts of the subcontinent

you will be lost in the paleolithic tools now even today when we talk about the

level of cultural development or kind of life or the type of life

we have something that is called

subsistence pattern it means we should know about their subsistence pattern

we should know about their subsistence a pattern

and not only this we should also know something about their settlement pattern

nowadays we are following interdisciplinary approaches or multidisciplinary approaches

so something from geography also settlement pattern

now when we talk about the settlement pattern we include certain things in it that we can talk about geographical

distribution geographical distribution we can talk

about what we can say ecological systems in which the people

lived ecology is more specific and then

we can also talk about what we can say their habitational structures if we find

them habitational structures this kind of things may be

part of the settlement pattern and then we can also

talk about this seventh one that if anything else is happening here

as part of the others now regarding these five cultures

one two three four five we should know these seven things

though things are never so mechanical so mathematical let me clarify this

but now while talking about the paralytic culture what we have to know that we should know the relative

chronology we should know the tools we should know the paleolithic climate we should know the politic human species we

should know the paleolithic subsistence pattern we should know the paralytic settlement pattern and if anything

happening as part of which can be presented as part of others the same is the case with methodology

mesolithic now we know what to know about mesolithic we have to know this this this and this

and why this because here we have a system here we have something which is historically important here we have

something which is called part of the historical process and that is what labels of

development based on climate based on human resources subsistence pattern settlement pattern

and all beyond this we are not

going to venture that is part of extraordinary that cannot be covered that should not

be covered because we have limitations of time efforts and energy so if you are left with some time in

history devote that time in polity or in economy because your preparation needed to be balanced

is it okay it is not that you can just keep on exploring and taking it as a challenge that i am going to correctly respond to

all the questions which are being asked in history that is 10 out of 10 so even after having so many years you

know of experience in learning history i cannot claim

and i think most of the teachers who agree that next year whatever questions are being asked by epsc we know all of them

that is not practically not possible you should have some realistic consideration so don't get emotional with the

preparation focus upon something which is more important focus upon something which is

important for us to know what is expected of a graduate educated graduate of this country that he is familiar with

this cultural stages he is familiar with all these aspects beyond this is part of

extraordinary we are not going to concerned with that is it okay

so as i told you things are never so mechanical but here we have five and there we have seven so how many facts

seven into five i think 35 so 35 basic facts are there that we should know about the prehistory

and that would be total of prehistory this approach to know what to know we are going to follow everywhere and this

is based on understanding of the syllabus understanding of the questions

understanding of the subject understanding of the nature of the subject recent trends which are

appearing in the subject and also the general intellectual climate of our time on that basis we can determine

everywhere what is important and what is not important we can focus in the classroom what is important and we can

leave what we consider to be not important and on what basis that's just that that just i discussed with you

meanwhile i have a request for a short break we are going to have it i tend to forget so please

remind me on time the minerals material remains a stone temples of south monasteries geography

rivers uh why to include stone temples of the south as part of prehistory

tajika prehistory is the part of the past for which we have no written records and these stone temples of the south are

part of the cultures which are known by historical records as well apart from

archaeological so we can't include them is it okay so let us have a break of

five minutes and meanwhile i request tanya please

share me anything email or whatsapp number because i need to share some notes with

the students so okay in break please

share allow me to share with you some class notes and let us a break first is it okay

break for five minutes

so welcome back and i hope i am visible and audible

so before we had the break

we were talking about what is important

in case of the pre historic cultures we

have five of them with us we call them paleolithic

mesolithic neolithic

chalcolithic

fifth megalithic

what we have decided that we should know about their chronology

particularly the relative chronology including phases if any

we should know about their tools

we should know about their climate we should know about the

human species we should know about their

subsistence pattern or patterns rather

we should also know about their settlement pattern

and in settlement pattern we can talk about geographical distribution

of the sites we can also talk about ecological profile or ecological systems

habitational structures these are the major areas

and after that we can include anything and everything that we find to be interesting including

what pauman is writing here burial patterns as part of others

these are the things that we should know and as i told you that things are never so mathematical

mechanical but still now we have some idea what to know about the prehistoric cultures

once we know them we can think that our preparation is of satisfactory level we can proceed further to cover other

topics so here uh

i am going to share some notes uh with you uh which is in the process

in which you will find all the details related to these five cultures

on the pattern of whatever we have mentioned here but whatever is to be shared with you

also needed to be discussed in the class

so now official dictation part is almost over

you are not going to write anything which i am going to dictate

but here we can while discussing if you think that there

is something important you can note on your own even in any case you are going to have proper notes

on the same basis as part of the class notes is it okay in written forms

our technical team is going to share but we in the class we can have

discussion on these issues

here also lithic means a stone so why it did not include in the stone age

uh venkata we still use a stone i think if you just

look around in your home you will find many stone tools

so why don't we call modern age as a stone age so whenever something new appears

that demands more recognition more attention and that is the reason

that despite we have ancient and medieval traits with us we consider ourselves to be living in

the modern age is it okay then please ask doubts in doubt

section don't distract sir it is a kind request

this is permanent haris is it for me

i i don't think that and this is for me

this is something that you people are sharing among yourself

so now let us talk about the first one

paleolithic i am taking out paleolithic here

it is for now paleolithic

i am going to write something on board i am going to discuss something you just pay attention to this

discussion and try to understand things finally you are going to have written notes of everything that i am going to

discuss according to the plan that is reflected on this board

but if you feel some urge that you should copy something from the board itself that you can keep on doing on

your own is it okay that is optional

now if we talk about paleolithic people the first issue

with which we have to concern is the chronology of course this is the oldest

part of the human past this is also the longest part of the human past

is it okay oldest and the longest

we are talking about the first one that is paleolithic and we have to take note of

all these issues related to the paleolithic now if we talk about this one chronology

so this is the oldest this is the longest now

some historians have made efforts to ascertain even the absolute chronology

so in different parts of the world we have different time brackets for the

evolution of this stage of cultural pattern in indian subcontinent we generally use

this expression 2 million years ago

to around 10 000

bp when we use the term bp it means before present

before present is something that is taken to be around before 1950 1950

is it okay i hope you are familiar with the terms like bc c e b c e

now these are the general used expressions in history even if you are not i am going to

explain this so see it is something like this

suppose this is timeline and in this

timeline time can be measured by us we cannot

trace the origin of the time we cannot also predict the future of the time so in different cultures some important

events or for different people some important events particularly rulers

they have been accepted as significant landmarks

on this timeline the calendar that we follow today is called gregorian calendar and here the

time of jesus and don't ask me whether his death or his

birth time of jesus is a reference point and we have counted time like this

that suppose 100 years after jesus 200 years after jesus

300 years after jesus and this way we have come till what we can say 2021 now

this is the common era ce or christian calendar

the way we have counted this side we have also counted this side we can say 100 years earlier than the jesus 200

years earlier than the jesus 300 400 and this way i think the time is

we can go to even the remotest past of the time

now here again infinity we can say we don't we cannot

trace the time now the way calendar is used this is what we can say calendar past

not the past beyond calendar here we have

two figures hundred hundred so we generally use the term a d don't ask the full form

is it okay a d this is also called c e that is common

error people prefer to call it christian era so we can say 180

100 ce for this figure we can say bc

or bce so when i say 100 bc

i am referring to a time point of time here and when i say 180 or 100 ce

i am referring to a time here so now even on the basis of simple mathematics we can understand

that there is a gap of 200 years from here to here

200 years gap between 100 bce or 100 bc and 180 or 100 ce

is it okay 100 years before this time and 100 year after

and this time is this position clear i hope understand in what sense we use the term b c b c e a d or a c e

now at times we also use our time and here our time means historians have generally agreed upon

time or year is 1950 that is after the invention of carbon

14 method of dating so when we use this period as reference time and not as this

we use the term bp that is before present and present is identified as 1 9 or 5 zero is this portion clear when

very long time brackets are used we start using the term m y a that is million years ago

million years ago you must about up this kind of expressions also c dot that is called

sirika that is near about one thing is clear that we can convert

this bp before present into both bc and ad

it is just about mathematical additions and subtractions so suppose if i have to convert

this time period that is 300 bc into bp

so this time period is this in vp that is before present so 300

years before jesus and 200 or 9 1950 years

after jesus so it will be something like this 300 a plus one nine five zero

to be more precise or roughly we can take our own time also so that will be somehow somewhere near what we can say

zero five

2 2 5 bp before present

the way we can convert bc into bp in the same way we can also convert a d into

bp and then this will not be a case of addition it will be a case of subtraction for example suppose if i am

trying to convert this time that is 380 so just 1950

minus minus 3 100 so it will be around what we can

say 1 6 5 0 bp

so this is how we find different terms in history textbooks and at times we

are quite confused but i hope on the basis of this you understand the expressions like bc

bce ad ce or m y a that is million years ago and

also what we can say bp that is before a present

is it okay so now if we talk about the paleolithic

and its chronology notes have been uploaded you can keep on referring to them

but they are going to stay with you i am not going to stay with you forever

so pay attention to the discussion you can

have a look at them just to find out that

what i am discussing is also mentioned in those notes but try to understand those notes on the basis of whatever we

are discussing so in paleolithic we have the oldest and the longest phase of

human past chronologically we can place it between two million years ago till around 1500

bp now if we talk about the phases so some historians have identified three

important phases we call them lower paleolithic middle paleolithic

and upper paleolithic in archaeological findings the uppermost layer is supposed to be the latest one

so here i don't think that we should take interest in the chronology of lower or middle or upper we can club them

together as part of this time bracket but of course upper paleolithic

started around 40 continued till around 10 000 bp but there may be

many overlapping roughly we can have this time period for paleolithic and this subcultural phases lower middle and

upper is it okay so this is something that we can talk about

the chronology of the paleolithic now the second if we talk about the tools

it is on the basis of changing tools that these subcultural phases have been

identified so if you talk about the tools of the lower paleolithic they are generally called

core tools why core tools because they are made

by using the heavier stones larger stones bigger

stones and they are in the nature of what we can say

chopper chopping tools

they are also in the nature of what we can say hand axes and they are in the nature of

a cleavers so these three types of tools are

associated with the lower paleolithic together we also call them core tools

then further cultural development when we reach the middle that was later than lower and so more

polished more developed than lower we have use of flakes

flakes as tools we use a general term so they can ask you this kind of

questions flake tools are associated with so they are associated with middle paleolithic more specifically and

paleolithic in general and then in the upper paleolithic we find even more specific tools more

polished or more more sophisticated tools and we call them blades and bearings

now we have how many tools one two three four five

six all these six tools are associated with the paleolithic

the first three associated with the first phase of paleolithic that is called lower paleolithic

flakes associated with the middle paleolithic and

upper paleolithic is associated with blades and appearance now can you

have some questions in your mind how the questions can be asked they can simply give you a

list of all the tools you consider the following tools one to six and then they can ask you

questions like this which of the above mentioned tools are associated with paleolithic so answer is

going to be all of the above and if they specify that lower paleolithic so answer is

going to be only one two and three if they specify like middle or upper then accordingly we have

to answer is it okay with everyone

so this is about the tools associated with the paleolithic now

some sites are also important so oldest tools

oldest paleolithic dated back roughly to two million years ago they have been discovered

from a place called rivath i have mentioned this place in your class notes is it

okay in the sun or

sohan river basin

in the northwestern parts of the indian subcontinent now in pakistan now this

place has produced the oldest tools

and that's why we use a term that is called zone industry or sohan industry industry

term is used to refer to technological similarity is it okay

so they can ask you this kind of questions also the tools of sohan industry have been discovered from which site

so if they ask you a specific site then that is reward at times they also ask you the river

basins so then the river basin is the sohan river basin or the zone river

basin and that is in the potwar

and that is in the northwestern parts of the indian subcontinent now just have a

understanding of the nature of the questions okay the oldest paleolithic tools have been discovered or oldest

stone tools have been discovered from which of the following regions a south

india b northwestern india c eastern india d central india

i hope understand that here the answer is north western india

is it okay and then it is not necessary that the oldest

tools are also the first tools to be discovered the order of discovery is different for

an order of making is different so for the first time paleolithic tools were discovered

in madras province at that time as part of the british rule and we have a place called pallavaram

that is first discovery first discovery

and that was at pallavaram all the sites i have mentioned in your class notes in the same manner so don't bother about

writing just try to understand pallavaram is a place in madras and at pallavaram

we find the first discovery that was sometime in the 1860s no that was possibly 1863 but specific years are not

important and here we have a geologist whose name was sir robert

bruce foot and this person was to be regarded as

the father of indian prehistory because he was the first one to find a paleolithic tool

and the tools which were discovered at pallavaram they became part of what we can say

madras industry or madrasian industry it means when we talk about the

paleolithic tools we identify two major industries sohan industry and madrasian industries

sohan industry tools are the oldest tools on the basis of which we trace the

beginning of the paleolithic around 2 million years ago and the tools belonging to the

madrassian industry were the first tools to be discovered and the discoverer was a geologist whose

name was robert bruce foot and this robert bruce foot is known as the father of indian

prehistory we can easily understand his contribution or the significance or importance of his

contribution is it okay so this much about what

the tools all these details are written in your class notes in the same manner is it

okay so even if you have not made these sketches or if even if you have not

taken uh notes of whatever we are discussing you are going to be comfortable because

you have the printed notes of all these details in the same manner and based on the same scheme that is what these seven

points related to those five cultures

now if we talk about the next important dimension

and that is what what kind of climate so we all understand the relationship

between climate natural resources that is paleolithic climate

natural resources pace of development today we have climate change or many

narratives or many theories related to the climate change in our time so we have grown apprehensive of the

development prospects for the future so we have started talking about sustainable development and all those kind of things

so if climate is so closely associated with the developmental process today it was always there and this kind of

concepts we can also use in essay writing so how climate

so when we talk about the paleolithic it is generally believed that all the three phases of paleolithic we have just

discussed them as upper middle and lower they overlapped with a climatic

condition that is called pleistocene pleistocene

plistosine we also use the term ice age

now when we have pleistocene or ice age which prevailed

throughout the paleolithic this is part of geological past and this is part of historical past and here we

have a very close interaction between our geological past and historical past

we are not concerned here with all other ages is it okay because they are not concerned with cultural progress with

cultural progress we have the association of pleistocene phase and so we are talking about the uplist ocean so

we are not going to talk about what tertiary or quaternary or what we can

say jurassic and all those ages no that you will study as part of other disciplines not as part of history

historical past that is cultural past is associated with the palestinian that is also known as ice age now what

were the characteristics of ice age very simple first thing that climate was cold

and if it was cold naturally it was going to be dry because moisture retention capacity of

the air is increased with increasing temperature simple physics is involved here

so when the climate is cold and dry

can we find this kind of climatic conditions even today we have a very famous historian whose

name was diddy kosambi and while talking about history

he made a very important contribution

towards historical reconstruction when we accepted the role of anthropological studies

and he while accepting their role talked about the living past that past

is still living with us so if you want to leave if you want to know

what kind of life was lived by the paleolithic people go to the forest even today you can find

certain people still living at the same level of cultural development observe their behavior and that will

provide you with some insights into the life lived by the paleolithic people in the past now

it is something like this so the way past is living with us in terms of culture in the same way even

climate is living with us or the past climate is living with us i will just give you the example of pole

polar areas you must have studied in geography now this is north pole and this is a

south pole now what kind of climate we expect here in the north pole we have ice sheets

glaciers here we have equator is it okay and these glaciers are

melting causing alarm for modern developmental processes so today the kind of climate we find at

the poles similar kind of climate prevailed not only at the poles but

even beyond poles

is it okay and only in the areas near equator

where we have the straight sun rays you must have studied in geography

now here we have more favorable for human habitation or climate more

favorable for human habitation what about other areas what about temperate what about polar areas so most

of the earth was covered with ice sheets except the

areas near equator now what kind of resources were available what kind of resources are available

today on the polar areas do we find the modern food grains or the animals with which we are

familiar generally we have what if we talk about the

fauna resources so we have thick skinned hairy giant sized animals not

fit for human consumption and possibly why we have the core tools in the paleolithic age because the animals had

been of giant sized not only at poles as we find today but elsewhere also

then what kind of funnel resources we can easily imagine that on the poles we don't have we neither have formal

resources nor floral resources for human consumption now imagine a situation that the kind of

climate and the kind of resources we find today on both north pole and south pole

prevailed for most part of the earth surface except the areas near equator

it means resources of the earth were covered under ice sheets flora and fauna are not fit for

consumption now you can imagine the struggling days rainfall no because

the climate was also dry so when it was dry hydrological cycle had yet not started

if we do not have hydrological cycle we know we cannot expect formation of water bodies it means climate was very harsh

most part of the earth was not fit for human habitation resources of the earth were locked under ice

sheets and that was due to the cold and dry a kind of climate but this

phase also had another phase and that is what alternate phases of

glaciation that is forming of ice crystals and

inter glaciation so these two phases it means we do not have uniformity

there happen to be certain periods or certain times in which the ice sheets melted so see

the melting ice sheets so when the ice sheets melted

more parts of the earth now available for human habitation

more resources now available for human consumption so the moment we have contraction of the

ice seats we can have expansion of the human settlements or human habitation

but then alternate phases of glaciation and interglyciation so this was a phase of

inter glaciation but then we have glaciation so we have again encroachment of ice

sheets and the moment we have encroachment of ice sheets we have contraction of human settlements

it means this hide and seek kind of game with the nature was played by

paleolithic man in this kind of climate that is called plisto a scene that is also ice age

characterized by a climate which was cold and dry and which was also characterized by alternate phases of

glaciation and inter glaciation so whatever limited progress was possible that was possible only when we have the

phase of an inter glaciation that is melting up the ice sheets or melting of the ice

crystals more and more areas available for human habitation more and more resources

available for human the consumption but that was something not going to last forever or permanent

we again have disruption and possibly that was the reason why

throughout this period which is the longest part of the human past people could not witness

any remarkable degree of a progress and if we talk about the pace of

development that is supposed to be the slowest in case of paleolithic age is it okay so this is the paleolithic

climate the name of the climate geological age is plistosine that is

also called ice age and we know what kind of obstacles and what kind of opportunities offered

or not offered by the nature to the man since the resources were limited opportunities

were limited the pace of progress was also very slow and this is true for all the phases

of paleo lithic upper middle and lower is this position clear to all of you

so this much about the climate now if we talk about the human species

and why we have to talk about neiman species we just understood because they reflect the level of human

resources available in the past and we can have direct questions on them which species associated with which

phase is it okay so plastos in climate is associated with a paleolithic b

mesolithic c neolithic d chalcolithic answer is a that is paleolithic nowadays they are asking a statement

kind questions statement based questions they can make some observations related to the plastos in color climatic

conditions and they can ask you which one of these statements are correct or incorrect and that's why i am asking you

to familiarize yourself with the general nature of the questions

is it okay and they are going to help us

a lot then

what about the human species so here we have evolution

that in the lower paleolithic age we have homo erectus

in the middle paleolithic age we have homo

sapiens and in the upper that is by the end of the paralytic age we have evolution of

homo sapiens sapiens

and homo sapiens sapiens are also called modern men so we are homo sapiens sapiens

so very simple matching questions can be asked or simply a pt question which of the

following phase or subcultural phase paleolithic mesolithic neolithic or child clithic witnessed appearance of

modern man so appearance of modern man in the paleolithic and towards the end

of the paleolithic that was the upper paleolithic it means whatever developments took place in the upper

paleolithic age can be associated with the modern man and we have just seen while talking about the tools of the

paralytic age that in the upper paleolithic age we have blades and burians so they can manipulate the question

the blades and burians are associated with or which of the following tools are

associated with the modern man so naturally modern man evolved in the upper paleolithic age and in the upper

palatic age we have blades and buriens so we can say that blades and burians are associated with the modern man

so the basic knowledge remains the same no questions are being asked by what manipulating the knowledge is it okay

so we cannot predict the questions but once we understand the concepts we can chase the creativity of our examiners

they are asking questions in a highly creative manner and even those questions which appear to be what quite shocking

and quite out of the box at times are associated with some deep rooted historical processes with which we are

not familiar due to our superficial understanding of the subject we don't exactly understand what

does it mean to a study history and what are the processes that we have to understand

is it okay and we consider history to be just what a set of facts and details is it okay

so likewise in subsistence pattern we have nothing but hunting

food gathering and escape engine nothing more than this hunting food

gathering and escavenging if you talk about the settlement pattern geographical distribution all over the

indian subcontinent we are talking about the paleolithic except the plane areas because in plain

areas resources were not available ecologically we find those settlements where

on the top of hills on the banks of rivers habitational structures or artificial dwelling units can yet not be seen as

part of the paleolithic if we talk about other developments so we have some remarkable developments in

the last phase you know like what we can say beginning of rock paintings that you will study as part of culture

so rock paintings are associated with the paleolithic man likewise we have some evidence related to

hearth fire that is also associated with this now this one i have discussed with you

in the class is it okay regarding mesolithic neolithic chalcolithic and megalithic

is it okay on the basis of the same but naturally once climate is fixed it is fixed

forever once even a space is fixed fixed forever so details may vary way of presentation

may vary from points to paragraph but the essence remains the same and on

this basis i have mentioned details related to mesolithic neolithic algorithic and megalithic in your class

notes please do read those class notes is it okay before coming tomorrow to this class so since you have a class

at 130 so we have very limited latitude for any kind of extension so i am not extending

this class we are stopping here but read the class notes which have been shared with you

if there is any doubt any confusion and read them honestly as i told you in

the very beginning if you are taking these classes seriously you have to take those notes also very seriously they are

not separate from classroom dictation is it okay they are basically classroom dictations that i have provided you in a

dictated form is it okay so don't treat those materials as part of something

which is usually provided to you by the institute or institutes that you can

ignore them if you are ignoring i will not be responsible for whatever confusion is created in your mind

related to whatever we are discussing in this classes so you have to read those notes very seriously these are simply time

saving devices that instead of writing and understanding you are going to read and

understand and that is not possible everywhere but wherever some possible some pockets we can identify just as

time saving measures we can use them we can utilize them to read these class notes and let us meet a

tomorrow at the same time is it okay thank you so much for this cooperation

good afternoon Here Devraj i hope i am visible to all on my profile

of you in the last slide we resumed our contents

on ancient and medieval indian history after a long gap

and we started with the history of

the mauryan dynasty or the maurya dynasty the most famous we can say

ancient indian dynasty with famous rulers like chandragupt

maurya bindushar ashoka

and we made a departure from the traditional or conventional

approaches in which we generally pay attention to rulers and their activities while

talking about any political formation while talking about any

estate or empire

and an important aspect of this departure was taking note of

the sources both archaeological and literary

which have been used for reconstructing the history of the time of

the mauryan dynasty roughly from 300 bc to 200 bc

though they ruled for more than 100 years but as a century we can identify this

century we talked about some important sites

which have been excavated which are supposed to be which are supposed to have produced

some cultural layers belonging to the time of the mauryas

then we also took note of some physical finding some material elements

which are generally associated with the mauryas like nbpw

iron tools and implements terracotta figurines

some of the benchmark coins and some important findings

like mauryan caves and the pillars

with which the empire and its achievements are generally associated

then we started with the literary sources and we took note of religious literature

buddhist china and also the hindu religious literature which includes the puranas

then we started talking about the secular literature

and in that we find references to the mauryas even in the sangam literature

we have a very famous work on sanskrit grammar

that belongs to the postmodern age mahabhasya

attributed to patanjali in that book also we find some

references to the mauryas milinda panho of course that is part of

the religious literature so we can exclude it then

the famous drama written by

the title of the drama is mudra rakshas and that legendary story

about the nanda dynasty being overthrown

by a brahmana who had earlier been insulted by

the last of the nanda rulers with the help of a very talented boy

who was personally trained by legendary chanakya

and with time became the founder of the mauryan dynasty chengup maurya

we also took note of some other works

we concluded the class with earth shastra

that we have to start earth shastra today

so let us begin with it and i hope there is no problem related to

the previous class if there is any you can always

share and

i hope you have also gone through the class notes

particularly on ashokan addicts on who's

on this topic we had a long discussion in the previous class

related to some factual details about the ashokan addicts in terms of

the languages used scripts used and also the nature of the ashokan

addicts we also call them maurya addicts that how they were imperial how they

were political reformist and some other attributes

and then we also discussed certain points related to the

significance or importance of the ashokan addicts for us

here this significance is basically related to

the reconstruction of the history of the maurya dynasty as well as the time in which we have the

dynasty of flourishing in the indian subcontinent

now we have to talk about shastra about this book

few observations which we can make see this book is a little controversial

and the controversies are related to its authorship

related to its time also related to its space

and also related to its dynastic connections and we have many reputed historians

their control their theories but in short let me tell you

that for our purpose we are not academicians and we don't have to follow academic approaches

these controversies are almost useless we can simply go with the conventional

approach towards the earth shastra that this is a book written by chanakya and

in this book we find reflection of political ideas

reflection of political institutions even reflection of economic and social life of a time

which is generally supposed to be the time of the maurya dynasty in fact whatever

cultural traits are reflected in this book

that is earth shastra those cultural traits are usually accepted as the realities of the age of

the mauryas to put in to put this in simple words let me say that if something is

mentioned in the earth shastra that is also accepted as part of the time of the maurya dynasty now this has

been the convention and we don't have any special reason to make a departure from this a

convention now

as we discussed in the last class that there are certain topics

we are supposed to cover as part of incentive medieval which may also be important for

indian culture a part of history which has been separated

to be done separately in the name of indian culture as

but the syllabus but that division is basically some sort of artificial division

if history is nothing but a study of culture and civilizations then all dimensions of cultures and

civilizations are part of historical analysis but here our sahasrara is particularly

important for us we can say that this is the most famous treatise

secular treatise in indian literary traditions and so we can have direct questions on

earth shastra different aspects that political life as reflected in the earth shastra economic

life as reflected in the earth shastra socio-cultural aspects as reflected in

the earth shastra we can find questions on all these aspects separately or a single question on the

earth shastra that i am talking about cultural dimension

for history section in pt you can find statements which of the

following statement or statements are correct or incorrect about the earth

shastra so suppose earth shastra first statement earth shastra

discusses the saptanga theory of state formation second statement

in the earth shastra the king or the ruler has been subordinated to the laws

of the dharma sastras second statement now which a statement is correct likewise they can give you many

statements so here the first statement is correct but not the

second one so this is how we have to utilize the this topic earth shastra

for both pt and mains that is for both history section as well as for cultural a section

and one more thing earth shastra is important for so many other reasons

when the british people established their rule in india they criticized india for so many

reasons and in their view their thought that india is a culture which is

dominated by religion indians are religious

and if we talk about indian ideas indian institutions indian art indian literature

that is all aspects of indian life was dominated by religion and religious

considerations now this was part of their critique of the indian civilization

when we indians started writing our history we started responding to the colonial

critic and we gave examples of certain books

if you think that indian thinking was only about religion and spirituality that is not correct

look at the earth shastra here we have well developed political theories though those theories are

different from what we find in the west but still they are not related to the religion we have

texts like kama sutra we have other texts like raj tarangini

so now in that context earth shastra becomes very important and they can manipulate the language of

the question in so many ways guided by different perspectives which are emerging related to the earth

for example they can ask you questions like this to what extent earth shastra challenges

the colonial constructs related to the indian society

so i just gave you the example of one colonial construct that india has been a land of religion indians are religious

people their thinking is religious their literature is religious so

while responding to this critic we can use the earth shastra and whatever details we find in the earth a sastra

while responding to the colonial critic so to the extent of throwing light on ancient indian political life earth

shastra can be utilized is it okay for challenging

the colonial postulates are related to the indian or society likewise

when the british rulers came to india they thought that indian rulers have always been despotic and with this they

propounded a theory that is called oriental despotism despotism is antithesis to

democracy in which rulers don't share power with anybody

that is called despotism that is the general meaning now if we talk about the western

societies if we talk about the eastern societies in both we find despotism

in fact east india company and later on the crown in the modern age established their

despotic rules in india that is without giving participation to indians we all

are familiar with this but how to differentiate the despotism of east india company the

despotism of british crown from the despotism of traditional indian rulers

so they came up with theories like this that there was something that can be

differentiated from western despotism which they thought to be better can be termed as oriental despotism

literal meaning of the orient is the east that is eastern despotism

in the sense that in the eastern societies rulers have never taken interest or never taken care of their

subjects in the western societies they propounded theories like

enlightened despotism so despotism in both western and eastern societies

but the western societies witnessed growth of enlightened despotism

in which the rulers did not share power with anybody or with any agency

but they utilized their powers for the benefits of their subjects

something that they thought the british observers or the colonial observers of the indian history they thought

that never took place in india where the rulers were always busy in their

self of fulfillment in their greed in their plunder in their other things but

never took care of the indian people is it okay this is a well established uh

i think you understand uh dimension of the colonial critic of the

indian civilization now we can utilize the earth shastra western observers say

that in india or in the indian subcontinent there was no system of enlightened

despotism but in the earth shastra we find clear-cut

instructions given to the ruler whosoever that ruler may be

maurya or for that matter anyone

was bound to take care of the interests of the subjects so what

we can do we can present this postulate of the earth shastra while responding to

the criticism of indian culture by the colonial observers that in india there

was never any system of enlightened despotism or benevolent despotism

so this is how we have to utilize the earth shastra and this is how they can ask you questions related to the earth

shastra is it okay so with this general understanding on the earth shastra

and see they can also ask you questions related to modern parallels that what in our

time in the 21st century in the modern world we find which is

similar to what we find in the earth or shastra this way also eps is asking questions

that is comparisons between something that was ancient and something that is modern

is it okay for example in cultural section they have compared mesolithic art with modern

art so they can compare the economy that is reflected or the political economy that

is reflected in the earth shastra with the modern political economy what parallels we find what similarities we

find what differences are there so this way it is not just about

earth sastra and it its details it is also about how to utilize and in what way questions can be a possible

is it okay so now let us write something about the earth

shastra make a heading and then start writing

first we are going to have some introductory kind of paragraph related to the earth shastra

then we can cover different aspects

of the earth shastra that is political dimension economic dimension

sociocultural dimension separately and we are going to have an extensive

coverage because this is not only important for mains this is also because

whatever we find in the earth sastra is something that we can easily relate to the time of the mauryas

so the economy reflected in the earth shastra is nothing but the mauryan economy or economic life during the time

of the maurya dynasty likewise society that is reflected in the earth shastra is important not only

from the point of view of the earth sastra it is important because it is supposed to be the society

and social structure that was prevalent at the time of the mauryan dynasty

so here mauryan economy mauryan polity mauryan society as reflected in the

earth shastra or academically to be more correct

whatever is reflected in the earth sastra is related to the age of the mauryas

so till now i hope approach is clear if there is any doubt any confusion you can

ask me and now make a heading and start writing

at the earth shastra the earth shastra

the earth shastra

first discovered by

chama sastri earth shastra

first discovered by chama sastri

or shama sastri in

1905 the earth shastra first discovered

by chama shastri in 1905

and first published and first published in 1915

first published in 1915

is supposed to be supposed to be

an important component of supposed to be

an important component of

the secular literary traditions important component of the secular

literary traditions secular literary

traditions of secular literary traditions of the

subcontinent secular literary traditions

of the subcontinent at the work has been

the work has been particularly important

the work that is earth shastra has been particularly

important in particularly important

in challenging challenging

stereotypes some stereotypes

some stereotypes and misrepresentations

related to misrepresentations

related to the indian culture and civilization

related to [Music] the indian culture and a civilization

as a part of as a part of the

colonial as a part of the colonial postulates or colonial

historiography colonial postulates

or colonial histography that is colonial history writing

is it okay keep on writing

the subject matter the subject matter of the work is

the subject matter of the work is mainly

politics and administration

the subject matter of the work is mainly politics and

administration in bracket right estates craft

politics and administration in bracket estates craft

but it also but it also contains

some details but it also contains some details

related to related to

related to economic conditions

economic conditions social structures

economic conditions social structures and

ancient indian cultural norms and values and the ancient indian

cultural norms and values

ancient indian cultural norms and values

its authorship is continue in the same paragraph its authorship

is quite controversial

its authorship is quite controversial but

traditionally the work is attributed to

traditionally the work is attributed to to chanakya

chanakya also known as

kautilya also known as cotillia or vishnu gupta

who who is supposed to be who is supposed to be

who is supposed to be is supposed to be

the minister of chengup

the founder of the mauryan dynasty janup maurya

right it is noticeable it is noticeable that

it is noticeable that

that there is no mention of there is no

mention of the name

of its author or authors there is no mention of

its author or authors

in the main part in the main part

of the book in the main part of the

book

it is also it is also

noticeable that in the work

it is also noticeable that in the work

we find we find

no mention of no mention of

the maurya dynasty no mention of the maurya dynasty

or any of its rulers no mention

of the maurya dynasty or any of

its rulers any of its rulers

despite this despite this

the work is generally attributed to

despite this the work is generally attributed to

the age of the mauryas generally attributed to

the age of the mauryas and

and the socio-political and cultural traits

socio-political and cultural traits reflected in the work

reflected in the work are

generally accepted as generally accepted as

prevailing realities generally accepted as the

prevailing realities

of the mauryan of the age of the mauryas prevailing realities

of the age of the mauryas

prevailing realities of the age of the mauryas

some important some important elements or references

some important elements or

references related to related to

different aspects of the life different aspects of the

life whether mauryan life or the whole ancient indian life we are not clear

different aspects of the life are

mentioned below are mentioned below

so from now onwards we are going to proceed point wise but before we do that

i hope we are clear about the earth shastra its importance its

significance that how it belongs to secular literary traditions which are

generally ignored in the colonial historiography of the subcontinent

how the work can be used for countering some of the allegations or some mistaken

views related to the indian culture and indian civilization how the

work can be also quite helpful in drawing modern parlance

or parallels with what we find in the ancient age

and how the work is attributed to this person whose name

does not appear in the old or main part it only appears in some what we can say

color phone color phone is something added later on

so the association of chanakya visnu

the association of the same person with chengup maurya and the earth shastra becoming or being

a work reflecting the time of the mauryas all these have been historically very controversial subjects but we are

not to be concerned about those things we have taken the safer view

we just have to know few things that dynasty is not mentioned rulers are not mentioned even author is not mentioned

despite this the work is supposed to be or attributed to chanakya and whatever

find in this work is accepted as realities of the time of the

mauryas is this position clear now we have to proceed further and

here we can make headings since the work is mainly based on

politics and administration or what we can say states craft

we can take this dimension to be the first dimension

here so after writing whatever you have written make a heading like this a

and here write political later on we are going to make headings

like economic then

a single what we can say sociocultural

and then depending upon convenience we can also take some minor issues

but this is how we are going to proceed now in political life we can have some points one two

three four likewise in economic life likewise in socio-cultural field

we can have some points related to the earth shastra

i hope this scheme is clear which we are going to follow while dealing with this

text meanwhile here we have jaydev patak

to contain the rays of enlightened despotism in india britishers had hidden

this text which later evolved as a reformist movement

jaydev we can't say so we don't we should not be that much

a skeptical it was not that they contained this text

and the story of its discovery is also very interesting but of course that is not our cup of tea for the moment

it was not a case of the hiding it it may be a case of

what we can say ignoring it is it okay so we should not always attribute

motives and personally and politically we can believe in anything but while writing answers please don't

write this way is it okay okay the britishers had hidden this work out

they did not allow any access to this work that is not the case in fact we

appreciate the contribution made by some western scholars some

historians uh in reconstructing

the india's past though their approaches were biased most of the time that is another issue we criticize them also for

this but we do acknowledge their importance is it okay

so that is not the way we have to present things or we have to perceive things

because its discovery was basically accidental is it okay

is is this approach is clear in what we are going to proceed so now our first heading is political and we can have

separate question on political separate question on economic separate question on or sociocultural

and whatever points are there 1 2 3

they are important for pt they can simply give you questions like this which of the following statement is

correct or incorrect or they can ask questions in mains that is

ancient indian political life as reflected in the earth sastra to put it in simple words otherwise they

can manipulate the language of the question you take note of your grasping of the

political realities of the earth shastra is it okay

so i hope you have made this heading political and

here now one two three four write the first point

mention of mention of or discussion on both way we can write

mention of or the discussion on

on this saptanga theory

saptanga in bracket right

saptanga theory

yes saptanga theory i hope this is visible

saptanga theory of the estate formation

saptanga theory of the estate of formation

with the acceptance with the acceptance of the king

with the acceptance of the king as the most important

as the most important limb

as the most important limb of the estate

most important limb of the state

this is the first point saptanga theory of a state formation

uh some of you may be students of political science or public

administration or even otherwise this theory is very famous so you may have

some knowledge about this theory that is called

seven limbs theory of estate formation we find its mention in

the earth shastra now how this point can be used in the perspectives that we discussed

so we can understand it in understand it in in this way

that if western observers

considered indian minds primarily directed

towards religion spirituality and india could not produce

any noticeable work or theory related to secular existence related to

secular lives we can mention this that is not the case we have earth shastra and in this

work we have political theory and that is called saptanga theory of estate formation

if in ancient greek roman civilizations or european civilizations

if we have theories like or people like aristotle plato talking about a state in

india also we have chanakya talking about a state state formation theories may be

different the modern theory of state formation that is generally attributed to austin

you must have heard of that four elements are needed for a state formation

territory should be there population should be there government and then

sovereignty both internal and external now this is the crux of what we can say

the theory of estate formation which have evolved with time in the western societies

we have also accepted it as part of modern influences but if you go back to the india's past

and if you if we analyze the earth shastra here

we have this theory saptanga theory this is immaterial

that what extent this theory is convincing or not convincing or different from modern theories what is

important is the secular nature of the work or non-religious nature of the work

and something related to politics something related to a state formation

found in the earth or shastra is it okay so what earth what does earth shastra

say about the state formation or quartilia say about a state formation a state is formed when seven limbs are

combined one two three four five six seven now the king is placed in the center of

this others are like forts like soldiers like treasury like friends like i hope

understand this way they are not important now in what way they can ask a question

a statement or sastra is mentioned saptanga theory is mentioned and simply

which of the following element is the most important element in the sabtanga theory

a king b fort c treasury d friends c is something

like this so we have to know that the king has been accepted as the most important limb as part of the sabtanga

theory of a state of formation that we find in the earth shastra i hope understanding what

questions in pt and men's both are possible and how these points can be utilized by examiners for asking

questions only then you can understand and appreciate what we are doing in this class

now write the second point

the second point you write

right discussion on discussion on

on the mandala mandala theory

again very interesting thing discussion on the mandala theory

of inter-state

relations or foreign relations we can say mandala theory

of the interstate relations or the foreign

relations just know this mandala theory no need to write what does it say

but let me give you some understanding of it now a large part of her shastra is

devoted to explaining the principles governing

the interstate relations and

quite interestingly even in modern international relations

we can observe similar patterns

so what does earth shastra say in this very simple it simply says that

relation between two neighbors never going to be friendly

and of course it was written from the point of bg issue that is a ruler whose desirous

of conquering others so if the states your rivals are

stronger what you have to do if they are weaker what you have to do if their power is at par with your own

then what you have to do no long discussion but

this is quite interesting that relation between two neighbors never going to be friendly

but so suppose here we have three countries this relation is also not cordial

so country a having two neighbors b and c but since

b is a neighbor of a the relation between a and b is never going to be cordial

or friendly likewise the relation between a and c

is also not going to be friendly but the relation between b and c is it okay

that is going to be quite friendly and b and c

can enter into alliance against a

don't you think that this pattern of relationship we can notice even today

can anyone of you give some examples of this relationship or this kind of relationship

on the basis of your understanding of modern ir or international relations i

am waiting for your examples meanwhile let me move to the third point

and the second point is nothing but mandala theory of state of formation

is it okay now write the third

third point related to political life

discussion on discussion on

discussion on the status a status

discuss i have got some responses here here we have jaydev rights are same we

read in ir rahul srivastava is saying india china pakistan

yes to a large extent and then china park

i i have one more in my mind i would like to share that is relation of india with pakistan

and relation of pakistan with afghanistan is it okay and then

relation of india with afghanistan indo-pak relation known for

i hope understand the traditional warmth and

cordiality within inverted comas almost same is the case with pakistan

and afghanistan but what about india and afghanistan we are supposed to have or in fact we have

very cordial relation with the people of afghanistan is it okay

it is something like this you can start from any part or from any country

in the world and you can notice not exactly the same thing but traces of what we can say

the same even in the modern international relations is it okay

now the third point we are proceeding your discussion on

status status powers and

privileges powers and privileges

please keep on checking their spellings powers and privileges

quite interestingly duties and responsibilities

duties and responsibilities

and even an even day to day

day-to-day conduct

of the

business i hope the spelling is correct day-to-day conduct of the business

of the estate state by the king

by the king

not only not only in the

royal court but also

but also in the imperial household

but also in the imperial household

so now in this point four important dimensions i have included a status

of the king powers and privileges of the king duties and responsibilities of the king

and not only this but day-to-day conduct or transaction of the business of the state

by the king not only in the royal court but also in the imperial household is it okay these

are the things which are mentioned in the earth shastra and they have been

discussed though we have written the main thread but some explanation

is also required and those explanations are going to form

next points so in the following point i am going to talk about what earth sastra says about the status of the king

what about the powers and privileges of the king what about duties and responsibilities of the king here details are not needed but let me tell

you that our sastra divides the whole day into eight parts the night also into eight

parts so in 24 hours 16 parts and for all those parts different types

of activities have been prescribed so details are too lengthy but simply know that our sastra

tries to control and regulate the king or guides the king we can say even in

day-to-day matters of administration but these three important dimensions related

to status powers and privileges duties and responsibilities are going to form the basis for the three upcoming points

for us so now write the next point that is going to be about the status

at the earth shastra next point the earth shastra

the earth shastra places p-l-a-c-e-s

places the king at the top of

at the top of both at the top of both

the social and political hierarchies at the top of both

the social and political hierarchies

he has been placed even above he has been placed even above

above the dharma shastras

he has been placed even above the dharm shastras

dharam sastras with

with a power with a power to modify

or ignore them with the power to modify

or ignore than

in the interest in the interest of the estate ignore them

in the interest of the estate in the interest of the

estate i hope you have got this point how

what is the position of king if we talk about the traditional position accepted in the dharam sastras

you must be knowing that our dharam sastras provide rules for everything or for everybody

all the social classes including the chatrias and particularly for the rulers that how a ruler should conduct himself

and traditionally according to dharam sastras the duty of a king was to uphold the

sastric injunctions that is the rules of dharamsastras and in fact we have many examples of ancient

indian rulers making efforts to establish the

legitimacy of their rule by presenting themselves as champions of

the varnasrama dharma or as champions of the dharma sastras is it okay this has been a general

tendency but in case of mauryas or in case of

the earth shastra to be more precise this position is not accepted here the

king has been given power to modify and even ignore the dharam sastras in the

interest of the estate i think this is a unique position that has been given to the king in the

earth shastra don't you think that this is nothing but

we can draw a modern parallel something related to constitutional supremacy the concept of constitutional

supremacy what is constitution today that is we love the people why the will of the people is important

because people are sovereign as part of modern democratic thinking so constitution is will of the sovereign

basically so wheel of the sovereign is what supreme

it can modify anything in the same manner if we talk about the

ancient time will of the king and the will of the king has been given

precedence over sastric injunctions even cultural norms and values in the same manner as we today have given primacy or

super messy supremacy to the constitution and its provisions over popular norms beliefs

practices and what we can say religious notions so exactly not the same but same also

because in both case will of the sovereign has been given precedence over other

considerations so this is how we have to draw modern parallels is it okay this is just an

example so mauryan king has been given power if our sastra is about the mauryas

to modify or ignore even the dharma or sastras this is what status

now write the next all the powers of the state

all the powers of the state next point all the powers of the state

in bracket right legislative

executive and judicial this is how we

conceptualize the power of the state all the powers of the state have been vested

have been vested v-e-s-t-e-d have been vested in

in the person of the king in the person of the

king without any check without any check

on his authority without any check

on his authority so he was supreme no check

right thus th u.s thus the mauryan state of the maurya estate

was a despotic state maurya estate was

a despotic estate and even

and even the opinion of the highest decision-making body

parisha even the opinion

of the highest decision making body in bracket

right parisia known for known for

its deliberations and decisions by majority

known for its deliberations and decisions

by majority was

not binding upon the king was not binding

upon the king so even the opinion of parisha not binding upon the king and why parisha is

important here because in the mauryan political system parisha is conceptualized as the highest

decision-making body and was particularly known for its deliberative processes and a practice to

make decision on the basis of the majority but since parisha was neither a representative body and no nor the king

was responsible towards it parisha cannot be accepted as a democratic institution of course it followed some

democratic processes like decisions after deliberations and that too based on the principle of

majority but that does not make the mauryan system a democratic system as parisha was not a representative body

and king was not bound by the opinions expressed by the apparition and this

establishes the absolute position of the monarchy is it okay

so see the power and privileges is it okay now write the third point

third point at the earth shastra explains

the duties and responsibilities the earth shastra

explains the duties and responsibilities

of the king duties and responsibilities of the

king in terms of

in terms of ensuring e-n-s-u-r-i-n-g

in terms of ensuring the benefits

ensuring the benefits of the ruled that is subjects

benefits of the ruled that is benefits of the subjects

benefits of the subjects he has been advised he has been advised

he has been advised to remain accessible

he has been advised to remain accessible

to his subjects to his subjects all the time to his

subjects all the time

to his subjects all the time right this

this establishes the benevolent character

of

of the estate this establishes the benevolent

character of the state under the maurya's

benevolent character of the estate under the

mauryas and and

challenges challenges the theory of

challenges the theory of oriental despotism

challenges the theory of oriental despotism

developed by the colonial rulers

as developed by the colonial rulers or

observers

by the colonial rulers or observers

is it okay then right next next point now in the earth shastra

in the earth shastra we find we find

references to references to royal officials

royal officials references to royal

officials of different ranks are a nks royal officials of

different ranks processes related to

their appointments processes related to their

appointments and removal

processes related to their appointments and removal

their functions their functions

their functions salaries salaries

their functions salaries etc

got this point next point to write in the earth shastra

in the earth shastra we also find details

in the earth shastra next point now in the earth shastra we also find

details related to different branches of administration

related to the different branches of administration

such as different branches of administration such as revenue department

no number of taxes how they are assessed how they are collected it is something like this like

revenue military military department

revenue military and even

sp and h s pure knowledge that is system of spies

and even espionage

so our sastra is quite rich in terms of details and i think we can manage now 100 200

words even if questions are asked in mains in cultural segment

related to the political aspect of the earth shastra or political life or ancient indian political life as

reflected in the earth or shastra is it okay this much about the political life i

hope the points are clear now make the second sub heading as in the same

way as uh we discussed in the beginning now write b

and the b is going to be what economic

is it okay economic now let me

remind you of something we

discussed a topic in the previous classes

second urbanization if you remember and while discussing the topic second

urbanization we talked about the factors and the

forces responsible for the ongoing process of urbanization

responsible for the expansion of urbanization

in the ancient time i hope you remember in which we talked about the new economy

that was developing in the gangatic basin the role of new metal the role of new

crops the role of new ideas now in that list you will find

a point that is role of the mauryan estate

the role of the mauryan estate i did not elaborate at that time and i perhaps told you that that will be

done later on while talking about the earth shastra now the time has come

this is whatever we find in the economic aspect this is not only

important from the point of view of what we can say the earth sastra it is also important from the point of

view of the mauryan economy or the economic contribution made by the mauryan estate

or the maurya umpire in fostering or in shaping the process of

urbanization that is nothing but a process of the expansion of economic activities in terms of diversification

of economic activities from primary activities to secondary and tertiary activities that is known emergence of

non-agricultural social classes based on agricultural surplus non-agricultural

settlements non-agricultural activities that is nothing but urbanization

so economic role of the mauryan empire or morya empire

is inherent in the reflection of the economic life of the earth a sastra

in the earth for sastra is it okay so is this connection established any

doubt any confusion so right here after making this heading

economic it at times here some introductory paragraphs are also needed so straight

away we are not starting with the points write some a little introduction

right the morya empire

or the estate is also is also termed as

is also termed as an economic estate

is also termed as an economic estate

for its for its extensive roles

for its extensive roles roles

both both for its extensive

roles both party c battery

and facilitatory

for its extensive roles comma both participatory and

fascinatory in almost all sectors

in almost all sectors of the economic life

in almost all sectors of the economic

life such as agriculture such as agriculture

craft that is manufacturing and

trade agriculture craft and

trade this is this is evident

this is evident from the following

observations this is evident that is economic nature

of the state is evident from the

following observations following

observations so here we are now going to

write some points related to the economic life

or ancient indian economic life or the maurya economic life as reflected

in the earth shastra supposed to be the most important source for the reconstruction of the history of the

time of the mauryas is this approach clear to all of you any doubt any confusion

and here we have to appreciate both participatory and facilitatory roles of the estate forming basis for

the mauryan estate being also termed as an economic state is this position clear

to all of you so see in economy we have three important sectors agriculture craft and

trade and in all these sectors we have

participatory role that estate as a producer and facilitatory role that is estate as

controller and regulator of economic activities don't you think this is something

that is true in case of even modern estates and particularly after independence when

we accepted this mixed model of economic development we have the same situation state had

indian state had both participatory role and facilitatory

role of course today we have shrinking of participatory role of the state in

economy and expansion of facilitatory roles of the estate in economy

but whenever we talk about role of state in economy we do talk about these two

participatory and facilitatory roles is it okay

so what kind of details are there in the earth shastra let us begin with agriculture

and here you will find many teenagers of modern political economy and here we can

have direct question in what way earth shastra reflect some

tenets of the modern political economy you must be knowing that in academic

discussions in international relations in our political discourse everywhere economic considerations economic aspects

are becoming more and more important so when we look back

to the india's past and when we find text like the earth shastra

economic tenets or economic details are going to be very important from a point of view of examination

so right here first point

right mention of mention of

mention of mention of

sita bhomi all these terms are very important for questions mention of sita

bhumi sita

any idea any one of you mention of sita bhomi

in bracket right a state land that is land possessed

by the estate so mention of sita bhomi

cultivated cultivated under the supervision of

under the supervision of estate officials no bureaucracy is involved in agriculture see

so mention of sita bhomi in bracket estate land

cultivated under the supervision of state officials

under the supervision of estate officials

superintendents of agriculture or state farming

see the role of bureaucracy today we don't find this kind of

officers who directly participate in agriculture but mauryan

seems to be even more elaborate than the modern bureaucracy in which we find state officials

associated with farming we have estate farms and they were cultivated by state

officials and they have been called a sitadhab charge this was the first point this highlights

the economic nature of the estate now write the second point

second point to write

extension of extension of

irrigation extension of irrigation

facilities by the estate extension of

irrigation facilities modern estates also do the same thing irrigation

facilities by the estate and in this context

in this context we can particularly mention

we can particularly mention the involvement of a state

we can particularly mention the involvement of a state

involvement of a state particularly mention the involvement of

a state particularly mention the involvement of

a state in

in in

in the construction of tanks and reservoirs

tanks and reservoirs we have concrete evidence construction of tanks water tanks and

reservoirs reservoirs for example

for example the sudarshan lake some of you may be knowing now they can ask you in which

area we find the sudarsan lake and who is associated with the sudarsan lake is it okay

for example the sudarshan lake in the saurastra region

saurashtra region of gujarat so the russian lake in the saurashtra

region of gujarat sudarsan lake in this orashtra region of

gujarat is it okay so in gujarat area we have an

inscription of 150 a.d that inscription belongs to ashaka ruler

whose name is rudra daman we are going to talk about him in that inscription rudraman talks about

this sudarshan lake and it's repairing done by him and he says

that its construction started under the changgup maurya and then completed under ashoka

this is a very powerful example of what we can say the

involvement of a state in extending this kind of facilities now right and see all these points are

very important terms for pt if you go through the question papers nowadays they are asking questions

mainly related to or like this is it okay it is not that who was the last ruler of the maurya dynasty or who

was the first ruler of the maurya dynasty those kind of questions are not being asked at least by

upsc now write the next

right transfer of the transfer of the surplus population

transfer of the surplus population

surplus population of an area transfer of this surplus population

of an area to uncultivated areas to uncultivated

areas with with an expressed intention

with an expressed intention with an expressed

intention to to increase the number of agricultural

settlements expressed intention to increase the

number of agricultural settlements

in order to in order to in order

to expand exp a and d in order to expand

the economic base or the revenue base of the state in order to

expand the economic base

economic base of the estate economic base of the

state i hope you understand this process modern developmental approaches are reflected here

development is a function of what combination of natural resources and human resources we are following the

same approach even today labels may be different but from panchayat levels to

uno international and global level if you talk about modern developmental

strategy that is basically based on what combining natural resources with human resources and vice versa

don't you think that mauryan estate was also associated with the same

uncultivated land natural resource surplus population of an area

human resource combine both how to combine both transfer the surplus population of an area to

hither to uncultivated areas is it okay and with an expressed intention

what would be the benefit of this process it would increase the number of agricultural settlements

and increasing the number of agricultural settlements amounts to expanding the economic base of the state

that is more revenue paying settlements always beneficial to the umpire so this approach is

visible here and here we have a close resemblance with the teammates of modern

political economy is it okay right right in the same point i think

this is the third point continue in the same right this process has been termed as

this process has been termed as c again very important term

this process has been termed as shunya nu asia so what is sunny aniversa

very important question for pt

this process has been termed as sunya

nivesha this process has been termed as

a sunni is what zero never size investment so state is not investing anything

perhaps and that's why this term is used

now write the next point association of that is fourth point

perhaps association of sudras association of the sudras

with agriculture association of the

shudras with agriculture

association of the sudras with agriculture for the first time

for the first time

fourth point i hope this fourth point is understood

traditionally speaking as part of the varnasrama dharma which developed in india shudras were associated with

providing services to the remaining three social groups

they were not associated with agriculture now in the mauryan age for the first time we find association of sudras

actual involvement we don't know precisely because we don't have sources but on textual basis

for the first time we find cortilia or chanakya mentioning

sudharas as agriculturalists in fact in the process of sunday news it was

largely the shudra population that was transferred to uncultivated areas so

this association is again associated with greater utilization of human resources

which were available and here we can draw modern parallels is it okay

now write the next point from primary to now let us move to secondary enter series actors is it okay

so right a state monopoly monopoly we all

understand a state monopoly

on some activities estate monopoly on some activities

like like

like mining estate monopoly on some activities

like mining of mining of the precious

mining of the precious metals

and stones mining of the precious metals and

stones even today we have the same thing degree of control may be different

regulation may be different but the concept remains the same state monopoly on mining of the precious

metals and stones keep on writing in the same the superintendents the superintendents

of the estate mining the superintendents of the estate

mining have been termed as akara dhakshas so who were accra

very important

foreign then right next

mention of the processes mention of the processes

mention of the processes related to mining

and metallurgical mention of the

processes related to mining and

metallurgical mining and metallurgical activities

ranging from mining and metallurgical activities

ranging r a and g i n g ranging from

the extraction of the metals extraction of the metals

ranging from the extraction of the metals

from the ores ores from the ores to

to the manufacturing of to the manufacturing

of goods and commodities manufacturing of goods and

commodities in the in the

royal workshops so maurya's also had royal workshops

in the royal workshops

workshops which employed which employed employee

which employed wage laborers cotilla is very

clear about wages to be given wage laborers

women all these are very important details related to the earth sastra and ancient economic life

royal workshops manufacturing of goods and commodities in the royal workshops

which employed wage laborers including women

at this highlights this highlights the role of state as an entrepreneur

this highlights the role of a state

the role of a state see the participation role of a state as enterpreneur so a scale may be

low but it is like public sector units no

then right next point next point to write

sale of sale of the estate manufactured goods

the sale of estate manufactured

goods the sale of estate manufactured goods

estate manufactured goods called panna

or rajpunya again very important question for pt panna or

raj panya under the supervision of

under the supervision of state officials here also bureaucracy is involved

under the supervision of state officials called panna dhakshas

under the supervision of estate officials called

under the supervision of state officials called panna they have charged

is it okay so estate was manufacturer estate was

trader state was seller state enjoyed monopoly on some activities

is it okay this kind of things i hope you understand are closely

similar to the approaches followed by modern estates and this aspect can be very

important aspect for a questions then write the next point

that how economic life is reflected in the earth shastra right

a higher degree of monitor reflection of a higher degree or a greater volume we can say

reflection of a higher degree of monetization

reflection of a higher degree of monetization monetization we all understand higher

degree of the monetization

in the mention of the coins like in the mention of the coins like

panas in panas we have mention of salaries mention of the coins like

panas in bracket you can write silver panas and

masakas copper possibly

these are the coins mentioned in the sastra panas and masakas

so cash payment even wage workers were paid in cash royal officials were paid in cash and

the volume of monetization and the degree of monetization is an important indicator of the economic of progress

and development is it okay then right next point

mention of mention of

mention of mention of the estate officials

associated with mention of the estate officials

associated with the control and regulation of

mention of the state officials mention of the estate

officials associated with the control and regulation

of market markets rather markets

coins coins units of weight and measurement

coins units of weight and measurement

units of weight and measurement etc

units of weight and measurement it is even today we find this kind of officers

i will give you break after finishing this economic aspect two three more points are there so rohit

bear with me for five minutes more before you have the break

now right next point a comparative study of

a comparative study next point in economy a comparative study of

different types of the different types

a comparative study of the different types of trade

routes are outes different types of trade

routes like what waterways and

all different types of trade routes

and in the estimation of the earth shastra and

in the estimation of the earth shastra

water routes or water routes water routes water routes

have been considered as water routes have been considered as

more economic more economical that is

cost effective more economic though

it also expresses concerns though

it also expresses

concerns related to their safety

related to their safety so water routes are good but the problem is

how to provide safety it means piracy was known at that time

and estate had a responsibility to extend protection to the trade routes so this

is going to be the next point right estate protection

estate protection to the trade routes estate

protection to the trade routes estate protection to the

trade routes this is something that we find even

today then right the last point here in the economic dimension of the earth shastra

and this is not about earth sastra alone this is about the maurya's i hope understand this concept

this much we know about otherwise we don't have other sources

write a comparative study of the trade routes

next point a comparative study of the trade

routes routees routes

going in different directions in different

directions going in different directions

and and in the estimate of the earth shastra

in the estimate of the earth shastra

estimate of the earth the trade routes

going towards the south the trade routes or routes

going towards the south have been considered as

going towards the south have been considered as

considered as more advantageous this is quite interesting also have been considered as

more advantageous more advantageous

so stop here we have a break now but but i hope understood the last point

if magadh was the center if you go to the south you will reach resource rich areas of

the south possibly that was the reason why in the earth shastra

the southern trade routes have been considered as more economic advantageous and whosoever was

the author of the earth shastra possibly was aware of

the resource distribution of the indian a subcontinent is it okay so with this let us have a break of

usual duration that is five to six minutes and after that we are now

very few points related to sociocultural life and then we can shift to

indica of megasthenes is it okay so break starts now

thank you so much for a cooperation

so i hope is it it is audible to all of you

before break we talked about the political and economic life of the time

of the mauryas or the same as reflected in the earth shastra

the most important source for the reconstruction and how

we can utilize these details now make a heading third

see that is sociocultural

here some issues are there and when we talk about the social life three

important issues automatically

come up first is the varna system the second status of women

and the third the issue of slavery so what positions have been taken by the

earth shastra related to all these three or what details we find in the earth shastra related to

this three at least we should know as part of sociocultural dimension of the earth shastra is it okay

so chanakya was a brahmana

and he also subscribed to the brahmanical perspective related to society

that supported the varnasrama dharma that is division of the society four-fold division of the

society since dharam sastras have not been given that much importance in the earth shastra and

sudras have been mentioned as agriculturalists they can ask you trap questions also the

artha sastra mentions as agriculturalists second statement earth

shastra was against the varna system so the first statement is correct but

not the second one is it okay though earth sastra can be

considered as more practical more pragmatic at least

in terms of a state is it okay or in terms of the benefit of the

estate so right here the first point

right earth shastra earth shastra supports the four-fold division of the society

the earth shastra socio-cultural first point the earth shastra supports

the four-fold division four

division of the society based on based on the

varnashram dharma based on the vern ashram

dharma based on the varnasrama dharma

and the protection of the same and the protection of the same

has been included protection of the same has been included

in the list of duties and responsibilities in the list of duties and

responsibilities of the king

duties and responsibilities of the king

but but it seems that but it seems that

that the text here the text is the earth sastra but it seems that the text

adopts adopts a more practical or pragmatic

approach a more practical or

pragmatic approach more practical or pragmatic approach

at least at least in the interest of the estate

at least in the interest of the estate

at least in the interest of the estate and the two important points

which we have discussed earlier extend support to this contention

that how the king has been placed even above the dharma sastras and then shudras as agriculturalists

so no need to repeat those points but keep those points in your mind

and pragmatism of the earth shastra reflects

even in the way it conceptualizes the varnasrama dharma or the varna

a system now at the second point

at the earth shastra throws light on the earth shastra throws

light on on the status

of women throws light on the status of women as well

a status of women as well who have been mentioned as

who have been mentioned as who have been mentioned as

wage earners that is daily workers who have been mentioned as wage

laborers or wage earners wage laborers or wage earners comma

artisans are teasings see the new roles for women

artisans artisans

spies s-p-i-e-s spies

spies

quotations quotations or prostitutes

mauryan state text even the prostitutes prostitutes

and even as and even as as

royal bodyguards royal bodyguards

looking surrounded by female bodyguards royal bodyguards

so we find women in some new roles like artisans wage earners spies

royal bodyguards earlier we have seen them as courtesans as prostitutes as part of the second

organization we have also seen them as the scholars in the baddie cage

so this is one way how to

establish their status that is what just write the rules different roles

as we find in the sources

and that will be establishing the status of women so these details are very important

and you can utilize them even you know your answers in main if it

is related to a status of women in the ancient age then that next point

next point third point that is about slavery

that a detailed discussion third point a detailed discussion

a detailed discussion on the issue of

slavery on the issue of slavery

a detailed discussion on the issue of

slavery with with mention of

different types of slaves with the

mention of different types

of slaves different types of slaves their

origin by birth or by fortune whatever

their origin their duties and responsibilities

their duties and responsibilities

duties and responsibilities their rights so even

slaves had some rights now their rights are ights

their rights don't go into the details simply write their rights and even

and even the terms and conditions and even the terms and

conditions for their release

the terms and conditions for their release

we find we find mention of

we find mention of a special category of slaves

mention of a special category of slaves called

ahitakas called ahitakas or ahitikas

called ahitikas

who appear to be who appear to be

more privileged than others who appear to be more privileged

than others appear to be more privileged

than others is it okay

ahitikas they were slaves in the ancient time and even slaves could not be forced to

do certain things which were against their dharma that is

which did not suit their sastric position

then right next fourth point mention of

mention of mention of

some religious groups some religious groups that is religious

condition of the time some religious groups

particularly the rgb cause

he was an ancient indian philosopher who lived

in the 6th century bc a contemporary of buddha and mahabhira

and his sect was also one of the many sects which appeared in the gangetic basin

in the 6th century bc which you are likely to study as part of

religion that is part of culture is it ok then

this much about c that is socio-cultural now make one more sub point here

write emergency provisions emergency provisions in the earth

shastra d

emergency provisions so earth sastra contemplates certain

emergency conditions i think in our constitution also we have contemplated some emergencies

can you tell me what kind of emergencies we have as part of our constitutional scheme

and what responses are expected from the estate in case of those emergencies

see the modern approach even earth sastra and the author of our sastra was capable of contemplating emergency situation

and it has prescribed a specific responses to address those kind of emergency situations

so anyone can you tell me what kind of emergency

you keep on thinking the idea of contemplating emergency provisions more important than

a specific details of these professions now this is something that is very important

national economic and constitutional yes rohit is it okay so in the earth has drive right first

emergency provisions in the earth shastra write the first point here

fire fire today is also considered as emergency not constitutional emergency

but social emergency we can say we have fire

then

national war financial emergency yes yes yes so fire and second

feminine famine is also mentioned as an emergency situation and

chanakya prescribes even measures you know he says that whatever revenue

is collected in kind not in cash that is in terms of food grains and

other grains that should be particularly preserved to address

situations like feminine and then write the third this is earth sastra

financial i think this is something that we also find in our constitution and some of you

rather most of you have responded and we find the same thing

yes so these three emergency situations we

find in case of the earth shastra

so this much about shastra i think you can write now 100 200 words

combining all the aspects or even if they ask you separately separately on political economic

cultural so you will be able to write

now we have to shift to indica of magastanis

the first major account belonging to the category of

foreign accounts is it okay so before we shift to indica if there is

any doubt any confusion related to whatever we have discussed as part of the earth shastra if you have any

you can share otherwise we are we have to proceed to

indica and magastanis so this is how we have to cover the mauryan estate

or morya history i hope now you are getting the idea that on the basis of the addicts or

shaken addicts certain things about the the time of the mauryas on the basis of

the earth shastra and now on the basis of indica and this

will together constitute everything that we have to know not everything but important things that we

have to know related to the time of the mauryas is it okay so any doubt any confusion related to

the earth shastra before we shift to the

indica of magostinis so we indians are known for our cordial

foreign relations now

and we have always been in contact with

the world history the first great conqueror of the world

history alexander the great knew about india his

teachers also knew about india though they had developed many mythical notions about india

some mistaken views about india which continued even in the later days

that is immaterial what is important is that they have written about india

correctly incorrectly rightly or wrongly whatever they have written we infer something out of everything

we find in the greek roman authors

and in this context we have indica of magastanis to be the most important for us

so now make a heading right indica and if they can ask you questions

related to the arab travelers or chinese travelers

they can also ask you questions related to the

greek roman travelers or observers of indian history so again indica is not only important

from the point of pt it is also important from the point of mains that is in the cultural section

so here also some extensive treatment is required so

let us proceed we are going to proceed point wise but before we start writing points we can have an introductory

paragraph related to indica

indica keep on writing now indica

attributed to attributed to

magastanis indica attributed to

megasthenes who

who served as indica attributed to

megasthanis don't write here it will be a long

sentence then complex so let us keep it simple simply right

indica attributed to megasthanis is

is the first major account is the first major account

related to related to

indian culture and civilization related to indian culture and

civilization in the category of foreign accounts

in the category of foreign

accounts in the category of foreign accounts

magostinis megasthenes is

supposed magostinis is supposed to have

lived to have lived libed lived

in the court of changup maurya in the court

of chandragupt maurya by now we know who was chandragupt maurya in the court of chandragupta

as as an ambassador of as an ambassador of

the famous greek ruler saleh yukas

one of one of the commanders of alexander the great

one of the commanders of alexander

the great we know him we know the time of his indian invasions

so we can easily relate

at magostinis is supposed to have arrived

in india meghasthanes is

supposed to have arrived in india after

after a peace treaty between both the rulers we know the parties

after a peace treaty between both the

rulers salukis and maurya we precisely exactly don't know

the terms and conditions of this peace treaty which involved of course

surrendering some territories to the west of indus

by sally yukas changup maurya giving 500 elephants

and then perhaps there was a matrimonial alliance also and the greek ruler married his daughter

to changup maurya but all these are legendary stories in fact in the indian sources we do not

find even the mention of the invasion of alexander all

we know is based on the accounts given by greek roman authors

is it okay so you precisely exactly don't know but

the peace treaty between the two is supposed to be something that led to his arrival in

india as ambassador is it okay

keep on writing the work here the work is indica

the work is now not available the work is now

not available or the work is now not

available or extend the work is now not available or

extent in its original shape

in its original shape it means the work has been lost

in its original shape but but

its reconstruction its reconstruction has been done

but its reconstruction has been done

on the basis of on the basis of on the basis of

its references its references

found found in the works of

some later greek roman authors in the works

of some later grieco roman authors

some later greek roman authors such as such

as such as deo doris

deodores aryan s trebow

so this itself can be a pt question on the basis of whose accounts we have

the reconstruction of the indica of magastanis so this reconstruction has been done on the

basis of the accounts of this work or references made by

these authors to this work that is known as indica in the later works and these authors are

deodorant aryan as trevor pliny the

elder is it okay then

keep on writing in the same magazines

and his indica magazines and his indica

magazines and his indica

throw light on through light

on the following

throw light on the following

details details

or throw light on the following aspects is it okay so the way we have done in the earth

shastra we have to move point wise but here we are not going to have some topics like political economic so

estar directly write the first point at indica

indica throws light on first point indica throws light

on on

the increasing cultural contacts increasing cultural

contacts between increasing cultural contacts between

india and the rest of the world

india and the rest of the world

rest of the world particularly the greek roman world

particularly the greek roman world

it also throws light on it also throws

light on on the increasing cultural context

between on the increasing

cultural context between

the north india and north india and

the south india north india and the south india

magastanis continue in the same point magastanis

was the first magasthanis was the first to mention

first to mention the pandyas

pandyas of the south

whose capital was madura whose capital was madura

whose capital was madura

with with famous port

with famous port of korkai

famous port of korkai as a center of

as a center of pearl fishery so which ensign port known for pearl fishery

korkai center of pearl fishery

pearl a fishery so magastanis

lived in the north india but knew about the pandyas and don't forget that he lived even

before ashoka we do find mention of pandyas in the ashokan addicts but don't forget magazines lived in the

court of the grand father of ashoka and he was capable of knowing about the

pandyas also about their capital and famous port korkai that was known for pearl fishery

is it okay keep on writing in the same point

he also mentions he also mentions that

that the kingdom was being ruled by a woman ruler

possibly the first reference to a woman ruler in india

that the kingdom was being ruled by a woman ruler

namely pandaya namely pandaya

who was who was a daughter of lord krishna all these told by

magostinis daughter of lord a krishna in bracket right

heracles lord krishna has been mentioned as heracles heracles

lord krishna so see

how to conceptualize this lord krishna of course as a god

is omnipotent omnipresent but historically speaking

almost all of his legions are associated with north india not with the south india

matura brindavan what his daughter was doing in the south

so this is taken as an example of what increasing cultural contact between north and the south and the use of name

of lord krishna even by the south indian powers to legit to legitimize their position

and this usually happens that whenever we have some peripheral developments some elements from the so-called core or

center adopted by peripheral powers to establish their position

this is seen not only in case of politics but in other aspects also so

if germany is the center of car manufacturers or known for car manufacturing

in india also the parts or the cars imported from germany are going to have

more legitimacy it is something like this so we exactly and precisely don't know who this pandaya was but she was

presenting herself as daughter of lord krishna and see the name of her capital madhura

it bears some resemblance with mathura when we go to the south thaw of the

north becomes the in the south so precisely we don't know but at least we know one thing that there was

increasing cultural contact between north india and the south india and magostinis was capable

of observing it and then this is very important a point related to

magazines and his indica so remember korkai remember pandaya remember heracles

remember the man

and remember his work this was the first point now write the second

second point again is culturally very important it pertains to the architecture so right

magazine throws light on second point magastanis

throws light on the architecture

architecture of the mauryan capital of the mauryan capital

partly putra in bracket right palimbotra now this is the term used by

the roman authors for partly putra magazines also throws light on the

architecture of the mauryan capital partly putra in bracket

and according to him according to him the city was surrounded by

a moat that is defensive feature the city was

surrounded by a moat even earth shastra mentions it

city was surrounded by a moat you know moat with

lotus plants and crocodiles no that is suggested by chanakya how to defend

the capital what is what a trench filled with water usually found

around the cities or around important forts and palaces

so what we have written according to him the city was surrounded by a moat

followed by followed by a wooden

p a l i c s a d e wooden palisade

or boundary we can say wooden or pili said

wooden apparently said

most of the houses in the city most of the houses in the city

were built in timber

most of the houses were built in

timber which suggests that

which suggests that the mauryan architecture was largely

a wooden architecture this you will study as part of architecture i am just making passing references

wooden architecture maureen architecture was largely wooden

architecture he also mentions he also mentions

a large hall in the mauryan palace he also

mentions a large hall

in the mauryan palace or in the palace of the mauryas

in the maurya palace mauryan palace supported by

eighty eight zero supported by

eighty stone pillars

supported by 80 stone appealers what magastanis has written is

proved by archaeological excavations yesterday i talked about some sites in partly putra

bulandi bag which has produced evidence of wooden palisade

then kum rahar there we find 80 pillars and also the remains of the mauryan palace

and this palace later on was also mentioned by fahian the famous chinese traveller who visited partly aputra

in the 4th century a.d during durian of chandragupta ii of the

gupta dynasty so we can accept what he says and this is

well accepted proposition that the mauryan architecture was largely

wooden architecture though we also find some tendencies towards a shift from wooden architecture

to estuan architecture but those things are mentioned by meghasthanas so description of the city

and description of the mauryan palace this much i think will be sufficient in this point now write the third point

magostinis meghasthinis

throws light on magastanis throws light on

megasthanis throws light on

the administration of the administration

of partly putra the capital city

administration of partly putra the capital a city

which is which is the first reference to

very important fact which is the first reference to

first reference to any separate system

first reference to any separate

system of urban administration

any separate system

of urban administration

in the indian history urban administration in the indian

history according to him according to him

the city was governed by according to him the city was

governed by by

six committees committee system even today city was governed by six committees

each consisting of five members each consisting of

five members so six into five total 33-30

according to him the city was governed by

six committees each consisting of five members

managing different aspects of the urban administration

managing different aspects of the urban administration

such as such as

regulation of markets regulation of markets

regulation of the units of weight and measurement

regulation of the units of weight and measurement

registration of births and deaths see modern feature

registration of births and deaths

deaths and even taking care of

and even taking care of the foreigners who were foreigners in the partly putra

city that we don't know merely an outsider or someone from south

india someone from central asia or west asia or the roman world we exactly don't know

but in the urban administration there was a committee responsible for taking care of the foreigners this itself is

very remarkable no you must have heard of atiti devo bhava kind of concept

so these are the important aspects of urban administration as mentioned by

this man magastan is in indica he also mentioned six committees for

military administration now here uh

one thing is very remarkable that even today

we find urban centers being governed

differently from the rural areas we call them town and mufassil

urbanization we know was progressing since the 6th century bc

when we have the beginning in the middle gangatic basin and we all know that urban centers have

some specific problems requiring some specific responses

now for the first time under the mauryas we can say state was responding to the

administrative challenges of the increasing urbanization

so this fact is very important fact the first dynasty is the mauryan dynasty the first

city is partly putra and the first person who talks about it is maghasthanis is it okay

till now whatever he says we generally accept but now he is going to say something

which is generally not accepted or is quite controversial

right in the next point magastinis magastanis

magostinis says that that the indian society was divided into

seven classes seven classes

with philosophers according to magastanis the indian

society was divided into seven classes with

philosophers occupying the top position

with philosophers occupying the top opposition

with philosophers occupying the top opposition seven classes other classes forget

philosophers according to him they were at the top of indian social hierarchy philosophers occupying the top position

fully stop now continue writing in the same point right but this

but this is not acceptable but this is not acceptable

as as the

four fold division of the indian society this is not acceptable as the four-fold

division of the indian society is

well established four-fold division

of the indian society is well established on the basis of other sources

on the basis of other sources

on the basis of other sources including the earth shastra

including the earth a sastra

which is supposed to be a contemporary text

which is supposed to be a contemporary a text

we can't say that he also he mentioned verna sankaras

mixed costs because in that case the number is expected to be larger than seven

so why did he do so that we exactly don't know maybe it was a mistaken

view or simply he was being inspired by a known model

based on the model of egyptian society he was familiar with that like egyptian society indian society is also divided

into a seven whatever be the reason that we don't know but this sevenfold description is not accepted

as fourfold division is well accepted but do remember that

magazines talks about sevenfold division and he places the philosophers at the top of this hierarchy is it okay

now write the next point magastin is next point

magazine says that in india there is no slavery

in india there is no slavery which is also not

acceptable which is also not acceptable

which is also not acceptable and we know why not acceptable we have just seen in the

earth shastra and from the vedic age we have the prevalence of slavery

right it seems that continue writing in the same it seems that there was

a relatively liberal treatment it seems that

there was a relatively liberal

treatment to the slaves to the slaves in

india in india and so magastanis

could not differentiate and so meghas thanis

could not differentiate between

a free man and a free man

and a slave

now write the third point magastinis megasthanis

also talks about the absence of feminine

absence of feminine f-a-m-i-n-e

in india can we accept this yes or no we can't

we have been jaina religious literature mentioned of a very

severe kind of feminine during the reign of chan gupta maurya then we have

some inscriptions of the time of the mauryas

like so gaura and maha astan talking about feminine relief measures

and more importantly in the earth shastra we have feminine relief measures so if relief measures are there it means

the phenomenon phenomenon was a reality at that time maybe magazines was not

aware of it is it okay then right next point

magazines also says that magazines also says

that indians do not know the art of writing

indians do not know the art of writing do not know the art of

or writing and also

do not charge interest and also do not charge

interest interest while

lending and borrowing while lending money or

you must be knowing this kind of practices can we accept this again not

we have plenty of details suggesting

that the indians charged interests buddhism accepted it of course it was

against brahmanical morality brahmanism was against it but it was very much part of the

day-to-day realities of the indian economic life and just in one generation

that is after bindusara when we have ashoka we have such a

sophisticated system of writing in which we find the ashokan addicts so how can

we say that just immediately before one or two generations we don't have the art of writing

writing or scripts develop over centuries but we exactly and precisely don't know

what was the reason magazines says that the indians are not familiar with the art of writing possibly he was

talking about the writing habits or something else or the very lack of a script or the art

of knowledge all these things are surrounded in historical mysteries we can't resolve them but we should know

what magazines has to offer and how and to what extent we can accept him

now they can ask you questions like this that is critical evaluation of earth shastra or magastanis

as sources for historical reconstruction but that is part of the mains there i am

not going to interfere those are cultural dimensions you will study separately is it okay so this completes

megasthenes any doubt any confusion

and based on these three asokan addicts and

sastra and indica we have now done almost everything

that is going to be important with glasses of his knowledge

he could only see this much this is yes

we all have glasses and sent indians or ancient greeks or not

exceptions so we can say that is at times we also talk about insiders perspectives but

those are academic debates we should not venture into so now we can proceed further

is it okay and while proceeding further we have to talk about the second important

dimension related to the topic and that is what political life

is it okay and when we talk about the political life

uh please confirm whether you have got some class notes related to the mauryan administration or

not yesterday i requested our team to share those notes

with you so we are we are now moving beyond sources

and while talking sources we have already completed many aspects related to the

administration but before we proceed or while proceeding i also expect you to

confirm whether you have got class notes related to the mauryan administration or not

we have to talk about the mauryan polity or the political life

now when we talk about the political life we all know that we have to talk about politics

that we have talked about as part of the earth shastra

how to acquire power and all those kind of things and of course during ancient time during

medieval time politics was basically based on military might we know the politics of ashoka based on

paternalistic sentiments so that is not going to be a very important kind of topic for us already covered

but while talking about political life we also talk about polity that is nature of the estate

is it okay and then administration

of course mauryan state was not a modern state with separate organs and their interconnections vertical and horizontal

so things are not very complicated

so here this is not required at all

now if we talk about polity nature of the mauryan polity is a topic

for us and then administration is a topic

now i have shared with you details of the administration please confirm

these are just factual details i think discuss are not required

and if required we are doing it that is central administration

provincial administration do you have you received something like this

and local administration we have conflicting references something we find in the

earth sastra but we do not find in the indica something we find in the indica but we do not find in the addicts

ashokan addicts but amidst all those contradictions and

controversies certain aspects of the central administration provincial administration and local

administration have been reconstructed is it okay

now just have a look at one of the class notes which you most of you have admitted that

has been shared that is related to the administrative details central provincial and local

just have a look at them and find out if there is any difficulty

there i have mentioned some officers like tirthas supposed to be the highest officials of

the state then adhaz superintendents of departments mostly

dealing with economic issues amatya a general term parisha

a consultative body but its opinion was not binding so context-wise we have discussed all of

them but i what i have done is that i have just placed them together is it okay

as part of the central administration now the same model was there at the provincial level four or five provinces

are mentioned of course this issue remains controversial

and the head of the provincial administration was kumara matya i have mentioned all these details i am just

discussing them in the class is it okay and we have kumara mathya kumar a prince

of royal blood as provincial governor ashoka served as kumara mathya

at both the famous provinces of ujjaini and taksha shila at taksashila he was

particularly sent to a suppressed revolt against what we can say the mauryas that

was done or that was due to oppressive practices

of the local administrators is it okay and at local level again we have many

conflicting details but we have some officers like pradesika's pradesh trees

i hope you remember we talked about yesterday ashokan addicts and i talked about yuktas rajukas

and then we have some others also so those factual details

along with some important departments that how we have revenue department

with two officers samahartha and sunni dhata

then how we have the judicial departments but with two types of quotes

civil and criminal and for the first time we have this separation of civil jurisdiction from

criminal jurisdiction and we have contact shodhan as criminal courts and dharmasya as a civil quotes

you will find all these details in your class notes then how we have the espionage system of

the mauryas with asthala sancharas you know stationary

spies moving spies and a special kind of spies called guru purush

then military department five important departments or six important departments we have infantry

we have a horse we have what we can say

we have elephants and then of course we also have come a serious department or supply

department so this way mauryan military administration mauryan revenue administration

espionage system central administration provincial administration local administration

and related facts i have mentioned in your class notes are you comfortable with them just have a look

at them and just let me know yesterday i think

i shared with you three class notes the first was on ashokan addicts

next on mauryan administration of the mauryan political

political system and then we have

third was about the mauryan rulers also do you find are you comfortable there

yes infantry chariots elephants navy

so follow those notes based on whatever i have given you there and based on whatever we discussed i

think you will be comfortable there there will not be any problem and the same is the case with now

the mauryan rulers we have talked a lot about changgup maurya we have talked a lot about ashoka

is it okay these two major rulers and as i told you that in between we

have bindu sarah of whom we generally talk about what we say

whom are you effect you know one day i talked about humayun effect if you knowing if you remember

that being son of a great father and father of a great son so changgup maurya was his father and ashoka was his son

his own achievements are not very impressive but we have some people who give him credit for

conquering the south indian areas but he is particularly known for maintaining very good political relation

with the neighboring greek powers and demanded three things dried figs

sweet wine and a philosopher from one of his friend so this

details we can utilize also in uh mauryan foreign policy

so about mauryan rulers after asuka we don't find many important rulers we have

dasaratha known for donating caves in the aji work field so whatever minor details we find

in case of the remaining rulers i have included in the that list

is it okay are you comfortable with that can you find

the list of rulers list of rulers and their details

something that we have discussed in the classes also particularly in case of important rulers like

in fact we have two important rulers and good moray and ashoka so since changgup maria was the maker of

this empire he was the chief architect of everything that we have discussed

we have to pay attention to the new orientation given by ashoka that we have

seen as part of his policy of dhamma do you find it just let me know

do you find the list of rulers we should not unnecessarily waste our time in those kind of actual details

uh meenakshi hierarchical system of society is part of the scheme of the earth shastra we have discussed that

mauryan society if our sastra is related to that was based on varna system and that is

something that is a fact well established fact we have discrimination in revenue field

judicial field that different social classes were given different punishments for the same offense so these are not

only a specific to the time of the mauryas they are part of the general history is it clear meenakshi

so now we have to we are left with a topic that is nature of the mauryan

polity is it okay and here we are going to write some

points so make next heading nature of the mauryan a polity

and here also after talking about earth's sastra we have already discussed many aspects

of the nature of the mauryan polity

so right first point here make a heading

nature of the mauryan polity

or morya polity write first

keep on writing this way right it was it was first point in the nature

it was it was

an imperial system it was an empire it was an imperial

a system imperial system

characterized by sufficient cultural

diversities see again repetition of the same we have already discussed but we have to write it separately

it was an imperial system characterized by

sufficient economic and cultural diversities

and presence of and presence of

presence of subsidiary

presence of sub-sea dairy political formations

subsidiary political formations in the form of

provinces in the form of provinces

in the form of provinces mainly

mainly in this context

in this context it marks m a r k s

in this context it marks

it marks the climax of the ancient indian political

development climax of the ancient indian political

development climax of the ancient indian

political development is it okay so it was an imperial system

characterized by cultural diversity economic diversity and also by

subsidiary political formations in form of provinces and provincial governments

is it okay and in this context we can say it marks the climax of the ancient indian apology

the second point to write a second point you write

and now explanation not needed you all already understand hereditary monarchy

hereditary monarchy so it was a monarchy

and that too based on the principle of heredity so we can say hereditary

monarchy it was not a republic system a republican system it was a

monarchical system and succession was though disputed

but it was in the same blood so we can say hereditary monarchy

next point to write royal absolutism

remember earth sastra no check on the power of the king so third point right

royal absolutism or or write one more term

absolute monarchy absolute monarchy

absolute monarchy characterized by despotism

characterized by despotism

characterized by despotism that king did not share power

with anybody or any agency then

write the next point benevolent estate

benevolent state

benevolent estate we are not using the term welfare

because welfare state has a modern connotation but both benevolent state and

states and welfare states are almost same as it okay degree is somewhat different

so it was a benevolent state and see in earth sastra we have discussed that how

this is against the theory of oriental despotism as propounded by the colonial rulers

then write the next point economic state

economic estate i hope you remember earth shastra and the role of estate in the economic field

all these points are being derived from whatever we have already discussed is it

okay economic state then right next

cultural estate next point is

cultural state what kind of states are regarded as cultural states

very simple a state promoting cultural activities so we have dhamma we have propagation of

buddhism we have caves we have their donations so all these things have

formed basis for the use of the expression cultural estate in case of the mauryas

then right bureaucratic it was not feudal bureaucratic

bureaucratic and the most elaborate bureaucracy we

can see in the indian history with the mauryas

vertical expansion horizontal expansion of bureaucracy that is bureaucracy at all levels and bureaucracy in all areas

of the life that we call vertical and horizontal so most elaborate bureaucracy

and we all know that bureaucracy is an instrument for centralization so we can say that mauryan state was

also a centralized state so right here next point a centralized state

a centralized state but this model of centralized state has

been now challenged and we have a very famous historian ramila thapar you must be knowing

the details of her theory is not required here but we should know that she has come up with very simple

contention that the kind of centralization reflected in the earth's astra was not

possible for so many reasons absence of modern means of transport and communication

and of course all areas of the empire were not equally useful to the estate so those

areas which were more useful were more tightly controlled and regulated and we can have co-existence of

centralization and decentralization that in one area centralized another area decentralized even in modern

constitution also we have some areas where we have accepted more centralized and more decentralized systems depending

upon the needs and requirements of the local conditions so centralized model is generally

accepted but at the same time ramila thorper says that in

metropolitan areas only we can have this kind of centralization

areas beyond metropolitan are the main areas which she terms as

core areas and peripheral areas the degree of centralization got

somewhat diluted is it okay so after bureaucratic we have written

the point that mauryan state was centralized and now write the next point

relatively decentralized in bracket right or mila topper

relatively decentralized in bracket right

row mila thupper in the so called

in the so called core and peripheral areas

in this so called core and peripheral areas

relatively decentralized in bracket romula topper

in the core and peripheral areas we can understand it very easily

see this is the whole empire and centralized system is what when we

have a central authority and commanding all the areas with the help of central institutions like army bureaucracy

so what ramila thapar is saying that there was an area that is magath it can be termed as metropolitan area

of the state beyond metropolitan areas she says that

it was core area and this was peripheral area very simple logic as we move

from metropolitan to what we can say core

and then to peripheral areas the degree of centralization is diluted

as evident in the skh that i have just made for you is it okay

so centralization mainly in the metropolitan areas why in these areas

the administration was not that much centralized for simple reasons lack of modern means of transport and

communication and the fact that all areas were not equally useful for the estate and that's why

they were not that much tightly controlled and regulated

is it okay is this position clear to all of you this is the recent understanding

of the mauryan estate and ramya thapar has been the chief exponent

of this theory and that's why we need to mention her name also in the bracket is it okay

this much about what we can say the nature of the mauryan

state now we are left with the last topic

and that last topic is related to the decline of the mauryan umpire

what we find is some theories are very universal kind of theories they are applicable everywhere

but before i shift to that topic can i am asking you can we

proceed for 10 more minutes or do you have any class after it

if you don't have class let us finish this topic today itself is it okay

if you have class then of course at five then of course there is no other way so if you are comfortable can we proceed

and i would request the academic observer also

sangeetha saharan to please guide me in this regard can we take 10 extra minutes

i am waiting for the green signal

okay thank you thank you so much i have your approval but i'm still

waiting for the response of our coordinator no

she's saying sure it's your wish i'm okay but please end it before five okay okay okay

it will certainly end before five there is no problem in that much before five

so you must have heard of decline of some big umpires no like mughal empire

and what the gupta empire

the mauryan empire and earlier the focus was on what individuals

nowadays historians are focusing upon circumstances

since this is the first case of imperial decline

it naturally deserves some attention

but here most of the things are similar similar weaknesses similar weaknesses

so make a heading right here i would also expect you to contribute

what do you think to be the causes behind the decline of the mughal uh sorry uh

mauryan amorian empire so make a heading causes of the decline of the

umpire and write the first point here and i expect

some points from your sides also if you want to contribute

i will go first with the conventional ones which are supposed to be universal so right here

weak successors

be it mughal empire or gupta empire or maurya empire everywhere

weak successors are held responsible for the decline of the imperial system and

if you see the list of the rulers you will find after ashoka we have a series of weak

rulers who not capable of managing the imperial responsibilities

is it okay then the second important is after weak successors

you must have heard of something that is called success and disputes

so be it mughals or conflict between aurangzeb and dhara or ashok and his brothers

everywhere success and disputes is it okay

why success in disputes so particularly in the light of absence

absence of any definite

rule of primo j nature

primogeniture is thrown given to the eldest son

is it okay so if there is no definite rule there is going to be success and dispute and success and disputes were part of the

mauryan quality ashoka is known for killing his 99 brothers he just left one

of them the person who was not inclined towards

politics so that one brother was left otherwise he killed his 99 brothers

we have the exaggerated accounts but even if a fraction of it is true we can

expect success and disputes then write next

foreign if not foreign external

external invasions and here we have the bactrian greeks

invading and later on even saatvahanas

is it okay external invasion invasion of nadrisha invasion

of amashabdali if known for causing the decline of

mughal empire invasion of bactrian and satmanas known for causing the decline of the modern

empire what is universal here is the theory of external invasion then here

right rise of rise of regional

dynasties so after mughals also you must be knowing about many dynasties similarly

in case of mauryas we have many dynasties it means whenever we have any rise in

the peripheral areas center is likely to witness declining tendencies

and whenever we have a strong center in the regions we have politically

decentralizing uh centralizing tendencies so the same these are the points which we can easily understand

rise of original dynasties and then write the fifth one

that is now what there are people who say that it was due to over centralization that is

institutional over centralization

so in any despotic system so long as rulers are capable the system is

perfect but the moment we have incapable rulers

centralization generally perceived as good

came comes to be perceived as bad is it okay so there are people who say

that maureen estate was over centralized and once we have incompetent rulers

whatever damages were done or being done to the state could not be checked could not be controlled at any

other level is it okay then six

exploitation particularly exploitation by bureaucracy

bureaucratic exploitation

you people are going to be the bureaucrats and you know in what way people can be exploited

some of you may have your own blueprints how to exploit people take it in a lighter vein

i know i don't doubt your honesty integrity and everything that goes with it

so exploitation of bureaucracy exploitation by bureaucracy because we

have instances in which people revolted against bureaucratic exploitation taksha sheila is particularly important in this

context and asuka was particularly sent to suppress this revolt of the people

that was against the exploitation of local bureaucrats then seventh

that is arrogance of arrogance of

dhamma mahamatas dhamma maha matas

mahamata's general officers officers appointed by ashoka to

propagate his principles of dhamma and they were given authority over

everyone and when the authority is moral the chances for its misuse is also enhanced

so we have historians who say that it was the domination and exploitation of dhamma mahamatas that also caused the

decline of the mauryas then write eight responsibility of ashoka

responsibility

responsibility of ashoka so generally we find a tendency that

last great rulers are held responsible for the decline so the

role of tuglock brothers mohammed bintulaq firosha took luck in the decline of the delhi sultanate and role of

aurangzeb in the decline of mughal empire likewise the role of ashoka in the decline of maurya

empire so how the role of ashoka here we can have some sub points

right brahmanical and all are disputed but we just have to

know brahmanical reaction asaka patronized buddhism

propagated buddhism criticized rituals so there are people who say that there was a brahminical

reaction against him is it okay and pushmi sunga the founder of the next

dynasty was a brahmana so this way then

pisces fist policies that is peaceful policies

and military weakness

if army will not fight then its capabilities will deteriorate

we know about dhamma peace peaceful policies though he never restored kalinga

he never abolished capital punishment he never disbanded his military

and he kept on threatening those people who were creating disturbances like atavikas

of consequences dire consequences despite all these things and despite the fact that his ban on

animal slaughtering was also not a blanket kind of man he himself says in one of his

addicts you will read that now in my royal kitchen except one

deer and two peacocks no other animal is killed is it okay

so his non-violence was a need for consolidating the empire and not agreed

and that's why this pacifist policies and military weaknesses should not be over emphasized now if it is about the decline of the

mauryan empire then c financial problems

and this is universally accepted he spent lot of resources on promoting buddhism on

extending patternage to brahmanas sharamanas and mauryan

state always had a precarious economic base perhaps that is the reason why mauryan taxes and policy was that harsh

is it okay so these are the major causes and they can give you questions like this

consider the following which of the above mentioned or which of the mentioned below are

factors behind the decline or uh decline of the umpire

so this completes this topic called mauryan umpire tomorrow we are going to talk

about the postmorion age

now cultural dimensions are going to be more important politically we have already discussed the climax so

we just have some dynasties and some of their rulers and then we

can shift to the early medieval and then medieval histories the last

important phase of the ancient already discussed of course we have the gupta dynasty but

gupta dynasty is not known for its political contribution it is particularly known

for its cultural contribution and cultural achievements of the gupta time will be part of the cultural classes and

not part of the history the classes so we are left with very few details that we can be easily managing is it okay

so let us meet tomorrow i have left you before five so thank you so much for this

cooperation let us meet tomorrow same time