The Penguin History of Early India

by Romila Thapar

  Pastoralists arriving from and returning to Afghanistan, or even central Asia, travelled regularly through the passes and the valleys. They continued to do so until a few years ago, as did immigrants coming from central Asia, Iran or Afghanistan, or large groups of Indians trading and settling in these distant places. Missionaries from Persia, caravans of merchants and, from time to time, invading armies used the same routes. Settlements at both ends point to the importance of controlling the passes. In early times the towns of Taxila and Begram controlled the Khyber Pass and, later, Peshawar and Kabul. The junction of the pass with the plain forms an area particularly sensitive to the politics and trade of the local regions. These passes were used so frequently that it is incorrect to project the north-western mountains as barriers. They were corridors of communication. Contact with what are now referred to as central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan goes back to the third millennium BC, the period of the Indus cities, and the passes are likely to have been used by people in even earlier times. There was a historical continuity of peoples entering northern India, such as with the migrations of the Indo-Aryan speakers, sporadically with the armies of Alexander of Macedon and more consistently with the Indo-Greeks, Parthians, Shakas, Kushanas, Hunas and Turks. The most regular movements were those of herders and of trading caravans.

  The Himalaya mountains to the north are somewhat different and although not a barrier had less communication with the world beyond. The plateau of Tibet was itself somewhat distanced from central Asia and China. The passes here are high and inhospitable in winter, generally snow-covered. Nevertheless, they have seen traffic and trade. The directly northern route to central Asia lay in the recently discovered Karakorum Highway via Gilgit, Chitral and Hunza, which tied into what came to be called the central Asian Silk Route. In the last couple of centuries these areas caught public attention as part of the backdrop to ‘the Great Game’, the British attempt to open up central Asia and Tibet.

  Further to the east, contact with Tibet was linked to the transhumance of pastoral groups moving to summer pastures through the passes. Still further east, the mountains of what is today referred to as north-eastern India were difficult to cross, given the direction of the ranges that made a west-to-east access less usable. The frequency of migrations and trade, and the role of these in history, varied therefore from region to region.

  Differences in the terrain of the mountain systems, and of the cultures beyond them encouraged a cultural divide between the north-east and the north-west. This was emphasized in the interaction between the plains and the mountains, with the north-west mountains that constituted the Himalayan region of the north being very different from those of the north-east. Whereas in the north-west there was a continual influx of peoples, patterns of living and languages, the northern Himalayan valleys tended to be more sequestered. This was despite the link between the doab and the middle Ganges Plain lying along the uttarapatha, the northern route which followed the foothills of the Himalaya, known as the terai. With eastward extensions from the watershed into the Ganges Plain in the first millennium BC, it was probably easier to cut a route through the more elevated and less densely forested foothills than through the heavy monsoon forests of the Ganges Plain. In the first millennium AD, adventurers seeking to establish kingdoms in the northern valleys started arriving from the plains. This led to greater interaction between the kingdoms of the plains and areas further in the mountains. The north-east had areas of relative isolation and some in which political power drew on those from across the mountains.

  The Indo-Gangetic Plain

  A perennial supply of water to the rivers of the north comes from glaciers, which have also changed the landscape of the northern mountains by creating deeper ravines or reducing elevations, opening up meadows at high altitudes. Geologically, the northern plains have resulted from the filling in of earlier seas, and rivers have played their part in this. These rivers are partially a blessing to cultivators where they spread a cover of fertile silt, but some such as the Sutlej, Kosi, Tista and Brahmaputra frequently change course or flood on a large scale, bringing disaster. The elevation of the northern plains is not uniform as there is a gentle gradient from the west to the east, starting from the Punjab Plain and the watershed before descending along the Ganges Plain to its eastern section and the Brahmaputra Plain.

  The northern plain is bifurcated into the river systems of the Indus and the Ganges. The Indus rises beyond the Himalaya, flows north through a furrow in the mountains and then turns towards the south-west when it enters the plains. The middle Indus is essentially the area of the confluence of the Indus and its major tributaries that flow from the northern Himalaya through the Punjab plains: the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas, of which the Sutlej has frequently changed course. The lower Indus culminates in the Delta, which because of the silting up of its channels tended to cut short the life of its ports. To the west is the inhospitable Makran coast, the traversing of which became a nightmare for Alexander’s army returning to Babylon.

  Another river whose history was linked to the Indus Plain was the Hakra. It is thought to have once been a significant river flowing almost parallel with the present-day courses of the Sutlej and the lower Indus, with its estuary in the Rann of Kutch. However, the waters of its upper reaches, sometimes called the Ghaggar, were diverted through natural hydraulic changes. Rivers originally flowing into the Hakra were converted to the Sutlej, becoming a tributary of the Indus and linked to the Beas and the Yamuna, flowing to join the Ganges. This was accompanied by the gradual drying up of the Hakra, of which virtually all that remains are the disjointed streams of the present-day Ghaggar. That there were settlements on the dry river-bed of the Hakra by about the late-second millennium BC would date the desiccation to this period, so it is clear the hydraulic changes would have occurred earlier and these are generally dated to the early second millennium.

  The identification of the Ghaggar with the Sarasvati, mentioned in the Rig-Veda, is controversial. Furthermore, the early references to Sarasvati could be to the Haraxvati Plain in Afghanistan. The identification is also problematic as the Sarasvati is said to cut its way through high mountains and this is not the landscape of the Ghaggar. Although the Sarasvati is described in the Rig-Veda in glowing terms, the Sutlej and the Yamuna were already separate rivers and not flowing into the Ghaggar. This would indicate that the hymns were composed subsequent to the changes affecting the Hakra/Ghaggar. Once the river had been mythologized through invoking the memory of the earlier river, its name – Sarasvati – could be applied to many rivers, which is what happened in various parts of the subcontinent.

  The elevated area of the Indo-Gangetic watershed separates the Indus system in the west from that of the Ganges in the east. The separation is further emphasized by the Aravalli Hills that separate the arid lands of Rajasthan from the western Ganges Plain. The Indo-Gangetic watershed also acts as a frontier to the Ganges Plain in the face of intrusions from the north-west. The Ganges, rising in the Himalaya, flows south and then towards the east, with tributaries providing a viable network used until recently as routes for river transportation. The Yamuna flows approximately parallel to the Ganges, but then joins it, and the area between the two is known as the doab-literally, between two rivers. Further east the important tributaries of the Ganges are the Gomati, Sarayu, Ghaghra and Gandak, flowing southwards from the Himalaya. The Son, Betwa and Chambal (the ravines of which have been famous as dacoit country) flow northwards from the Vindhyan Plateau. Still further east are the dual streams of the Ganges – the Bhagirathi flows south and is known to change its course, attested to by geology and reflected in mythology, while the Padma flows towards the south-east.

  At its eastern extremity the Ganges Plain merges into the plains of the Brahmaputra River. Rising beyond the Himalaya, the Brahmaputra flows west to east across Tibet, as the Tsang-po, for an immense distance, then does a U-turn and continues through the plains of north-eastern India in an approximately
east-west direction. In the plains it is a vast but slow-moving river with scattered islands. Both the Indus and the Brahmaputra rise from proximate sources but flow in different directions over immense distances. The lake, Manasarovara, and the nearby mountain of Kailasa have come to be regarded as sacred. In the east, the Brahmaputra meets the Padma, as does the Meghna further along. This creates an immense expanse of water during the monsoon, and the boatmen of this area have a prominent cultural place in the folk literature of the region.

  River valleys or the plains created by a river and its tributaries are often optimal areas for the rise of urban centres, particularly at or near nodal points such as the confluence of rivers. The urban civilization of the Indus system dates to the third millennium BC, that of the Ganges system to the first millennium BC. Urban centres developed somewhat later in the plains of the Brahmaputra. Possibly the ecological and technological conditions did not encourage an early clearance and settlement of land. This is not altogether unassociated with the mountains of north-eastern India supporting many groups of ‘tribal societies’, as they have been called, since they remained an area of relative isolation for a long period. Land to the east of the Ganges Delta was also cleared, with settlements gradually being established in the first millennium AD. The Indus Plain appears to have been less densely forested than the Ganges Plain, although the Harappan seals depict tigers and rhinoceroses which are generally associated with tropical forest. It is hard to believe that in earlier times the Ganges Plain was covered with monsoon forests, so effectively have these been cleared. The fertility of these plains, particularly the flood plains of the rivers, attracted agriculture despite the virtually annual damage caused by floods.

  The northern plains however were not uniformly fertile. The Thar desert of Rajasthan and the semi-arid regions encircling it did not allow for much cultivation. But as is characteristic of deserts, these became areas conducive to routes which were used extensively by traders whose goods were carried by camel caravans. Small centres of exchange or staging points gradually emerged, and a few grew to be towns. With attention to irrigation, some of these areas also became agriculturally viable.

  The Peninsula

  The third major region is that of the peninsula. Lying to the south of the Vindhya Mountains, the Satpura Ranges and the Narmada River, it is largely a plateau region but with hilly terrain in the Western and Eastern Ghats. The plateau in the northern half of the peninsula is known as the Deccan, a name given to the area by northerners and derived from dakshina, meaning the south. A major route going south in historical times, the dakshinapatha – literally, the southern route – is frequently mentioned in texts. The plateau consists of volcanic rock, very different from the northern mountains. Such rock is somewhat easier to cut into, hence the frequency of rock-cut monasteries and temples in the Deccan.

  The Western Ghats rise sharply close to the western coast, tapering eastwards into the plateau of the peninsula. They are cut by a series of passes similar to those at junnar, Kanheri, Karle and Karad, which linked the trade routes traversing the plateau with the ports along the west coast. The passes were points where Buddhist rock-cut monasteries were clustered. At the southern end, the Palghat Gap was the pass that allowed access from the west coast to the Kaveri Valley and was important to Indo-Roman trade.

  The Ghats on the east merge more gradually into the plateau and the coastal plain. The major rivers are approximately parallel, apart from the Mahanadi at the eastern end of the peninsula. Whereas the more northern ones – the Narmada and the Tapti – run east to west, those further south such as the Godavari, Krishna, Tungabhadra and Kaveri flow the other way, west to east. Rivers are generally regarded as sacred and some, such as the Ganges, more sacred than others. Places of pilgrimage are often located on river banks. Pilgrimage on the Narmada involved starting at the source and walking along one bank, then crossing over to the other bank and walking back to the source, a pattern less common for other rivers.

  The peninsula is broken up by the topography of rivers and elevations, making expansive agrarian states similar to those of the northern plains a less common occurrence. Urbanization in the peninsula dates to the late Mauryan period and the start of the first millennium AD, but there is considerable and impressive pre-urban activity in many areas. The Deccan, as the more northern part of the peninsula, inevitably became the bridge area linking the north and the south, as is reflected in language and architectural styles.

  The mountains and plateaux of central India, with their dense forests, tended to get bypassed by migrants and settlers for many centuries. The major settlements were along the more frequented routes from the northern plain southwards to the Deccan. These settlements made only a marginal impact on the forest dwellers until later centuries when encroachments into the forests for timber and elephants, as well as cultivable land, became more common. Central India was regarded as the major habitat of ‘tribal societies’ and forest peoples, even though such societies were scattered throughout the subcontinent. Pockets of these continue to the present. The population size of such ‘tribal societies’ or forest-people varies today from about a hundred for a society such as the Onge in the Andaman Islands, to over a million among the Munda, Oraon, Bhil, Gond, Santhal and Mina. Living patterns range from hunting-gathering, shifting cultivation and horticulture to fanning. A distinction between these societies and the neighbouring peasant societies had been the centrality of plough agriculture and tenancies among the latter, although this has entered the lives of the former in recent times. Ecological regions were not sharply demarcated and there were symbiotic relations of interdependence between adjoining regions. Forests and savannas were much more extensive in the past than they are now. This in part accounted for densities of forest populations in certain areas, and only gradually were peasant villages settled among such populations. Early texts refer to traversing forests as part of travelling from town to town. Brigands, who also treated the forest as their habitat, added to the apprehensions about undertaking a long journey.

  Coastal Areas

  The peninsula, with its extensive western and eastern coasts, inevitably has a history of maritime activities. These have not been given their due recognition, largely because the historical perspective of the subcontinent has been land-locked. The monsoon was a dominant feature since the monsoon winds, when used at the appropriate time and with the correct technology, powered sailing ships. Long-distance routes were mid-ocean routes requiring knowledge of winds and currents. Coastal routes were networks that remained reasonably constant. The coasts in each case constitute regions of their own through sea links. The geomorphology of the coastline and the technology of navigation and shipping often led to the continuity of ports and harbours over many centuries. A striking example is the port of Muziris in Kerala which, if identified as it generally is with Kodangallur/Cranganore, would have remained active from the turn of the Christian era to the coming of the Portuguese, fifteen centuries later.

  Equally active for much of history were the pirates all along the western coast from Gujarat to Kerala. There are frequent references to the threat of pirates, with memorials to heroes who had resisted them. Piracy is in part a gauge of exchange and a form of redistribution of wealth from plunder. The threat from piracy was that if it remained uncontrolled it could lead to the termination of the trade. Piracy on the sea had a parallel in the brigands on the land. Early societies tried to curb both, but often had to live with them.

  The Indian Ocean is divided by the Indian peninsula into two arcs: the Arabian Sea and the western coast of India; and the Bay of Bengal and the eastern coast. The western coast can best be viewed historically as having various foci or core areas: the Indus Delta, Gujarat and Saurashtra, Thana (in the vicinity of Mumbai), the Konkan (south of this) and Malabar (in Kerala). The foci on the eastern coast were: the Ganges Delta, Kalinga (in Orissa), the Deltas of the Godavari and Krishna, and the Coromandel coast with a concentration in the Kaveri Delta (in T
amil Nadu). These core areas were often the nuclei of kingdoms that also had maritime ambitions and economies.

  Over many centuries the rise or fall in sea level has also introduced changes along the coasts. A rise in sea level meant that an area such as the Rann of Kutch in western India was once a shallow sea, open to small ships. A fall in sea level would leave some ports high and dry, although the emergence of new land was useful to human and animal populations. These changes particularly affected lowlying coastal areas, such as the Sundarbans in the Ganges Delta, and estuaries in Bangladesh where some parts of the land could either be submerged or silted up, with land forms constantly changing.

  The east coast provides evidence of the movement of Buddhism from eastern India, following the coast to south India and Sri Lanka, from approximately the late-first millennium BC. East-coast traders also took the initiative in establishing trade with south-east Asia and southern China. Maritime contacts between the western coast and west Asia go back to the third millennium BC, with seafaring between the Indus cities and Mesopotamia. The south Asian presence in the Gulf has been almost continuous. In later times, beginning in the first century BC, the trade with the eastern Mediterranean provinces of the Roman Empire through the ports of the Red Sea was highly profitable. It was doubtless the success of this trade that took the links further to the eastern coast of Africa in the first millennium AD. The western coast has been home to a number of trading communities, including Christians, Parsis, Arabs and Jews. Another geographical formation, not altogether historically irrelevant as it was once thought, is the cluster of coral islands off the coast of Kerala and Sri Lanka – Lakshadvipa, Minicoy and the Maldives. They broke the fury of the incoming monsoon, and could be used as outposts for traders sailing in both directions.

  Far to the east are the Andaman and Nicobar islands, closer to south-east Asia than India. They could have been staging points along the Indian Ocean routes, but seem not to have been used as such. Perhaps the people living there were not so welcoming. In the last couple of centuries the people of the islands have been studied by colonial anthropologists, attempting to define the ‘primitive’.