The Penguin History of Early India

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The Penguin History of Early India Page 19

by Romila Thapar


  Evidence of migration comes in various forms. The most unambiguous are references in the Avesta to a distant homeland and the list of places through which the airiia migrated. The geographical direction goes from central Asia to northern India, and among the places mentioned towards the end of the itinerary is the heptahindu. Even if this section dates to a later part of the Avesta, the story of an early migration and its geography was not doubted. The original homeland remained mythical, but the areas through which the airiia are believed to have travelled are geographical locations. Geographical names from Afghanistan mentioned in the Avesta, such as Haraxvati and Harayu, seem to have been repeated in a more easterly direction in northern India, as in Sarasvati and Sarayu. Important clans, such as the Turvasa and the Bharatas, migrated from the mountains to the plains or from the Ravi to the Beas.

  Lack of familiarity with flora and fauna is another indication of migration. Rice, for instance, was not known to begin with, although it occurs at certain Harappan sites. Of the wild animals, the lion was known earlier than the tiger or the rhinoceros. Yet the latter animals had been depicted frequently on Harappan seals, although they are both absent in the Rig-Veda. This would point to the earlier habitat of the authors of the Rig-Veda being further west and north. The elephant was looked upon as a curiosity and was described as the animal with a hand, mrigahastin.

  References to the horse meant not only the introduction of the animal, but also of equestrian activities. Pastures had to be adequate for feeding horses, since there is no mention of a fodder crop. Cattle raids are mentioned with noticeable frequency. For migrating pastoralists, there would not only be references to the movements of peoples, but raids would be an important source of increasing livestock. Clans therefore not only raided the dasas, but also fought each other over pastures and lands in which to settle. Pastoral movements explored new areas appropriate for hosting settlements. These would not have been isolated places, as some exchange with sedentary agriculturalists was necessary for the initial procurement of grain and other items.

  Many clans are mentioned in the Rig-Veda, especially where there are references to inter-tribal conflicts. In one case we are told that Sudas was the raja or chief of the Bharata clan settled in western Punjab, and associated with both Vishvamitra and Vasishtha, who were in turn his chief priests and who had ensured successful campaigns for him. Sudas was attacked by a confederacy of ten clans on the banks of the Ravi but was victorious. Conflicts arose from stealing cattle, disputes over grazing grounds or controlling river water. Families or clans often owned herds but the pastures were used in common. A rapid increase in livestock or its re-allocation could be achieved through a raid. Skirmishes and raids involved physical confrontations, both among the clans claiming an arya status and between them and the others.

  Migrations continued into the Ganges Plain and are mentioned in the Brahmanas. Videgha Mathava led his people along the Himalayan foothills eastwards as far as the Gandaka. The land across the river had to be cleared by fire before it could be settled. The Panchalas confederated and then re-confederated into the powerful Kuru-Panchalas, controlling parts of the western Ganges Plain. Even as late as the first millennium BC they were said to be conducting raids lasting a few months at a time. They were also significant players in the Mahabharata. Although the western Ganges Plain is not important in the Rig-Veda, the heartland shifts later from the Punjab to the territories of the Kuru-Panchalas in the western Ganges Plain. The Kuru-Panchalas became patrons of the more elaborate rituals that were evolving, and began to assert a new form of political authority. It is said that the best Sanskrit is spoken in this area. The north-west and the east are later said to be the habitat of the mlechchha. This word originally referred to those who were unable to speak Sanskrit correctly, and later to those who were outside the pale of caste society and therefore regarded as impure. This is an early example of a shift in the geographical focus of a culture, which probably occurred around the eighth-seventh centuries BC. It also points to a possible change in the connotation of arya: the language spoken was increasingly incorporating non-Aryan, and the intermingling with non-Aryan speakers, who were the authors of the neolithic and chalcolithic cultures of the Ganges Plain, would have been much greater. The compositions of the later Vedic corpus reflect this change.

  Agro-pastoralism remained the main occupation of the Aryan speakers for some time. The cow was a measure of value. Many early linguistic expressions were associated with cattle. Thus gavishthi, literally ‘to search for cows’, came to mean ‘to fight’ – the obvious implication being that cattle raids and lost cattle frequently led to armed conflicts. Perhaps the cow was regarded as a totem animal and in that sense an object of veneration. The eating of beef was reserved for specific occasions, such as rituals or when welcoming a guest or a person of high status. This is a common practice in other cattle-keeping cultures as well. The economic value of the cow further enhanced its veneration. This may have contributed to the later attitude of regarding the cow as sacred and inviolable, although association with the sacred need not require rational explanations. The question relates to livestock breeding, grazing grounds and ecological changes. Eventually it became a matter of status to refrain from eating beef and the prohibition was strengthened by various religious sanctions. Significantly, the prohibition was prevalent among the upper castes. Of the other animals the horse held pride of place. The horse was essential to movement, to speed in war, and in mythology it drew the chariots not only of men but also of the gods. And it was easier to herd cattle from horseback where the grazing grounds were extensive.

  Tending herds of cattle did not preclude agriculture. Archaeology provides evidence of varied societies in the sapta-sindhu region – the Cemetery H culture, the Gandhara Grave culture, the Ochre Colour Pottery culture, to mention just a few. The authors of the Rig-Vedic hymns may have been familiar with some of these. Chalcolithic cultures practised agriculture, so there would have been a combining of agriculturalists and pastoralists, some pre-existing and some arriving. But for agriculture to be extended, the clearing of land was required. Fire played its part in this process and the burning of forests is described, perhaps initially in imitation of shifting cultivation. However, cutting down rather than burning forests was probably a more effective means of clearing the land, particularly after the later introduction of iron axes, since cutting enabled a greater control over the area to be cleared. The use of the plough goes back to pre-Harappan times and one of the words frequently used for the plough – langala – is from Munda, a non-Aryan language. The range of agricultural terms borrowed by Indo-Aryan from non-Aryan languages would suggest that plough agriculture was more common among the pre-existing communities.

  Agricultural products came to be more frequently mentioned, even in the offerings made during sacrificial ritual. Yokes with six and eight oxen were used to plough the land. The plough became an icon of power and fertility, as shown in this hymn:

  Let the plough, lance-pointed, well-lying with well-smoothed handle turn up cow, sheep and ongoing chariot frame and a plump wench. Let Indra hold down the furrow; let Pushan defend it; let it, rich in milk, yield to us each further summer.

  Successfully let the good ploughshares thrust apart the earth; successfully let the ploughmen follow the beasts of draft; Shunashira, do ye two dripping with oblation, make the herbs rich in berries for this man.

  Successfully let the draft-animals, successfully the men, successfully let the plough, plough; successfully let the straps be bound; successfully do thou brandish the goad.

  Atharva Veda, 3.17. 3-6, tr. W. D. Whitney

  One innovation in agriculture in the Ganges Plain was the gradual shift from wheat cultivation to rice, and, in animal herding, the presence of the buffalo. Wet-rice cultivation was a dramatic change as it produced a larger yield which allowed a bigger surplus. The vish, or clan, was pressed into making more frequent prestations and offerings, and sacrifices dependent on these increased in
number, as well as the gift-giving to priests in the form of dana and dakshina, gifts and fees.

  To begin with, land was worked in common by the clan or the community. Eventually the decline of clan identity, and the prevalence of rights of usage and the demarcation of fields, led to land being divided among smaller groups, probably families. The greater dependence on agriculture rather than pastoralism led to a wider range of occupations. The carpenter remained an honoured member of the community, for not only was he the maker of the chariot but he was now also the maker of the plough, not to mention the framework required for building huts. The increasing availability of wood from the forests made carpentry a lucrative profession, which must have given it additional status. Other essential members of the village community were the metalsmiths – using copper, bronze, and later iron – as well as the potter, the tanner, the reed-worker and the weaver.

  The location of the later Vedic corpus in the Ganges Plain describes conditions that are a prelude to urbanization. Chalcolithic cultures encouraged specialization and some of the settlements were eventually to become urban centres. Cultures just prior to urbanization are sometimes differentiated by the use of Painted Grey Ware in the western part and Black-and-Red Wares in the middle and eastern part. These cultures tended to be closely placed small settlements, largely agricultural. Some correlations have been suggested in the material culture of the Painted Grey Ware and that described in the later corpus, although it would not be accurate to label these archaeological cultures as Aryan or non-Aryan. Parallels with the corpus would suggest evolving societies and norms emerging out of many interactions. Incipient urbanism is noticeable by about the early sixth century BC at some sites, and at other places somewhat later. Links between the Punjab and the Ganges Plain were through routes along the Himalayan foothills and along the rivers of the Ganges system. The former may have been attractive because the foothills had relatively less dense vegetation, and were possibly sources of metal ores. The rivers of the Ganges system provided an easier means of communication than cutting paths through the forest.

  When agrarian produce became available as surplus this led to exchange, which later resulted in trade. Initially exchange was in the form of barter, the cow being the unit of value in large-scale transactions, which limited the geographical reach of those wishing to exchange produce. The nishka is also mentioned as a measure of value, perhaps of gold, since later it came to be the name of a gold coin. With settlements increasing eastwards in the Ganges Plain, particularly along the banks of rivers, the rivers became natural highways, even if the river trade was of a rather basic kind to begin with.

  Chiefs and Kings

  The smallest segment of society was the kula, family, which among the higher status groups tended to be patriarchal. A number of families constituted a grama, a word used later for village, suggesting that the families in the early settlements were related. Another view holds that grama was the formation made up of wagons used by the mobile pastoralists. The family as a social entity generally extended over three generations, with the sons often living together in the parental home. Very early marriages were not customary. Both dowry and bride-price were recognized as distinctive systems. The birth of a son was especially welcome, for the son’s presence was increasingly important in various ceremonies.

  Within the confines of a patriarchal system the status of women veered, according to occasion, from being relatively free to being restricted. Women as depicted in the Vedas have been much romanticized, but a realistic view suggests varied conditions, especially when the mores of the clan gave way to the norms of the caste. The participation of wives was required in many rituals but it carried little authority. Curiously, in contrast to the presence of Harappan figurines, some of which may have represented deities, the Vedic texts did not attribute much power to their goddesses, who remained figures in the wings. It is thought that a widow had to perform a symbolic self-immolation at the death of her husband and this may have been a sign of status. In later centuries this was cited as the origin of the practice of becoming a sati/suttee, with a small emendation of the text, which made it possible to insist that a widow actually burn herself on her husband’s funeral pyre. That the ritual was symbolic in the early period seems evident from the remarriage of widows, generally to the husband’s brother – a custom referred to as niyoga or levirate. Monogamy was common, although polygamy was known among the rajas and polyandry was not unfamiliar. These divergences of marriage and kinship patterns, as well as of social codes, would question the universal applicability or the rigid observance of the regulations of the normative texts. There are three variants among the Pandavas alone: endogamous marriages among kshatriyas as in the marriages of Pandu; polyandry in the five Pandava brothers marrying Draupadi; and cross-cousin marriage between Arjuna and Sub-hadra. All of these point to a range of prevalent social patterns. If mythology is an indication of attitudes towards norms relating to kinship and marriage, then evidently there was flexibility.

  The worship of Agni, as the god of fire, gave symbolic importance to the hearth as the most venerated part of the homestead and the nucleus of the home. Houses were built around a wooden frame. There were posts at the corners of the room, and crossbeams, around which were constructed walls of reed stuffed with straw. These later gave way to mud-plastered walls. Brick structures are not associated with buildings and the use of mud bricks was more frequent in the construction of the large altars for the major sacrifices. The use of bamboo ribs to support thatch provided a roof. The house was large, with family and animals living under the same roof. The staple diet included milk, ghi (clarified butter), vegetables, fruit, wheat and barley in various forms, and rice where it was grown. On ceremonial occasions, or on the arrival of a guest, a more elaborate meal was customary, including the flesh of cattle, goats, and sheep, washed down with the intoxicating sura or madhu (a type of mead). Clothes were simple, but ornaments were more elaborate and a source of pleasure to their owners.

  Interest in music can be seen not only from the variety of instruments mentioned, but also from the highly developed knowledge of sound, tone and pitch, which was used particularly in the chanting of the Sama Veda, and a familiarity with the heptatonic scale. Schools of music in later times have frequently traced their origins to these beginnings, an ancestry that in many cases was more a matter of prestige than of history. Nevertheless, where legitimate, it provided the possibilities for complex musical structures that became central to later forms of music. Leisure hours were spent mainly in playing music, singing, dancing and gambling, with chariot-racing for the more energetic. Chariot-racing was a sport of the rajas, sometimes included as part of their ritual of initiation. The chariots were lightly built with spoked wheels, and were drawn by horses. Gambling was a favourite pastime. The gamblers lamented but played on, and the hymns provide details of the dice and the rules of the throw.

  Clans were organized as patriarchal groups, and in the early stages the raja was merely the leader. When the need for protection and for social regulation became necessary, the most capable protector was selected as chief. He gradually began to assume privileges that were later incorporated into kingship. However, the concentration of power was checked by various assemblies of the clansmen, in particular, the vidatha, sabha and samiti. The vidatha was the gathering at which, among other things, the booty acquired in a raid was distributed. These were occasions when the bards composed eulogies on the exploits of the chiefs and were rewarded with generous gifts. The dana, gift, began as an appreciation for a hymn immortalizing the hero, and praise was therefore showered on the magnanimous givers of wealth, such as the chief, Divodas. These were the dana-stuti hymns of the Rig-Veda, eulogizing the gift. Sometimes exaggerated quantities of wealth were listed, such as 60,000 head of cattle or 10,000 head of horse. This was to shame those who gave small gifts. Increasing occasions for gift-giving led to the idea of the patron of the sacrifice giving a dakshina, a fee in the form of a gift, to the pe
rson performing the ritual. The gift and the fee established a relationship between the patron and the priest, which could be competitive or in tandem.

  Gift-giving was deeply embedded in these societies and not only assumed social forms, but acted as a mechanism for the distribution of wealth, often at clan assemblies. The sabha was the council of the select and exclusive, whereas the samiti was an assembly of the clan. The emerging political organization can be traced in some of the legends on the origin of government: the gods and the demons were at war, and the gods appeared to be losing, so they gathered together and elected a raja from among themselves to lead them, and eventually they won the war.

  The word raja, which has been translated as ‘king’ from its earliest occurrence, is better translated as ‘chief’ in the earlier references until the time when it clearly refers to a king. It is derived from a root which means ‘to shine’ or ‘to lead’, although its etymology in the epics, thought to be less accurate, is associated with another root – ‘to please’ – suggesting that the raja gratifies the people. The change to kingship is generally linked to two phases: there is first the performance of major sacrifices – yajnas – as discussed in the later Vedas, when the priests not only initiated the chief into a status above the ordinary but also imbued him with elements of divinity; the second phase has to do with the emergence of the state, which was a departure from the earlier organization of society and governance on the basis of clans. Associated with these changes was the gradual receding of the notion of the vish, clan, selecting a raja, which implies that the clan was subordinated. The telling simile is the statement that the raja eats the vish as the deer eats grain.

 

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