Land of seven rivers: History of India's Geography

by Sanyal, Sanjeev

  Best known of Ashokan artifacts are a series of edicts engraved on rocks and on stone pillars scattered across the empire. These pillars and inscriptions have been found across the subcontinent from Afghanistan in the north to Karnataka in the south, Gujarat in the west to Bengal in the east. They are also scattered across the northern plains, including one in Delhi (near Greater Kailash). Given the lapse of time, it is safe to assume that there were many more pillars and inscriptions that did not survive. Still, what remains is impressive and gives us a sense of the scale and extent of the Mauryan empire.

  The edicts and inscriptions have elicited a great deal of interest ever since they were deciphered in the nineteenth century. This is not surprising given their age as well as the sentiments they express. Ashoka openly regrets the invasion of Kalinga and the bloodshed it caused. He exhorts his subjects to be good citizens, while underscoring his own commitment to their welfare. Below is an example of one of his edicts:

  When he had been consecrated eight years, the Beloved of the Gods, king Piyadassi, conquered Kalinga. A hundred and fifty thousand people were deported, a hundred thousand were killed, and many times that number perished 21 . Afterwards, now that Kalinga is annexed, the Beloved of Gods very earnestly practiced Dhamma, desired Dhamma, and taught Dhamma 22 . On conquering Kalinga the Beloved of the Gods felt remorse, for when an independent country is conquered the slaughter, death and deportation of the people is extremely grievous to the Beloved of Gods and weighs heavily on his mind …. Even those who were fortunate to have escaped and whose love is undiminished suffer from the misfortunes of their friends, acquaintances, colleagues and relatives. The participation of all men in suffering weighs heavily on the mind of the Beloved of the Gods’.

  —Major Edict XIII.

  Translated by Romila Thapar 23

  The Kalinga campaign was clearly brutal, with 150,000 deported, a direct death toll of 100,000 and even larger numbers dead from wounds and famine. India’s population at this stage would have been around 65 million 24 and casualties on such a scale would have been devastating for a small province like Kalinga. Excavations at Kalinga’s capital of Tosali reveal structures that still bear marks of a devastating assault. The large number of arrowheads found embedded in a small section of the ramparts tell of a blizzard of arrows. Ashoka appears to have regretted his decision because of the suffering it caused—very unusual for any era and in stark contrast to the brutal rule of the First Emperor of China at about the same time. Nonetheless, one should always take statements made by politicians with a pinch of salt. The edicts are, after all, what Ashoka wanted us to remember of him. Notice that Ashoka expresses regret but does not offer to free Kalinga and its inhabitants.

  Although the inscriptions are very interesting, I think historians have focused too much attention on the noble sentiments expressed in them and not enough on the overall impact of the pillars. Around 40–50 feet high, the stone columns are impressive structures often capped by a lion (or lions), an animal that was associated with the Mauryas since Chandragupta’s time. In some of the pillars, the lions are accompanied with the ‘chakra’ or wheel. Historians often associate this with the Buddhist ‘dharma-chakra’ but, in my view, they could just as well be interpreted to symbolize the ‘Chakravartin’ or Universal Monarch. The pillars and the lions are a clear expression of imperial power. They were the Mauryan way of marking territory.

  Remember that Ashoka’s average subject would have been illiterate and would have been unable to read the noble sentiments in the inscription. He/she, however, would have been left in no doubt about the real message regarding the power of the sovereign. The use of columns to signal imperial might is not unique to the Mauryans or even to India. The ancient Egyptians and the Romans used them as well. In India, the imperial successors of the Mauryas would raise their own columns as well as insert their own inscriptions on the Ashokan columns.

  The Mauryan lions and pillars were mostly made from sandstone quarried at Chunar, near Varanasi, where the Ganga nudges the Vindhya range. We now know the exact location of the quarries to the south-west of Chunar fort, close to the famous Durga temple. Stone is still quarried here, and one can also see some of the ancient quarries as well as cylindrical blocks of unfinished stone abandoned by the ancient stone-cutters. Some of them bear inscriptions that identify the era when the stone was originally quarried.

  It appears that the Mauryans rolled the stones to the river and then transported them by boat to workshops near Varanasi, in much the same manner as the ancient Egyptians transported stone blocks down the Nile to construct their temples and pyramids. Although various irrigation projects these days have drastically reduced the water-flow in the Ganga, it is still possible to make the journey by boat from Chunar to Varanasi. Archaeologists have found remains of workshops along the river where this stone was carved and polished. 25 As the river turns, the ancient ghats of Varanasi come into sight and, for a moment, one can imagine oneself as a Mauryan boatman transporting Chunar stone to the imperial workshop.

  The stone used to carve the Sarnath lions, modern India’s national symbol, would have made this journey from quarry to workshop and then to Sarnath. I found several stone-carvers who still work the Chunar sandstone in and around Varanasi. Some of them were carving lions to adorn homes and temples. Somehow, the new sculptures all have the characteristic ‘grin’ that one sees on the Mauryan lions. Is this conscious choice or just the unconscious weight of history?

  Later rulers understood the symbolic meaning of the Mauryan columns and were always keen to appropriate them. This is why the emperors of the Gupta and Mughal dynasties, went out of their way to put their own inscriptions next to those of Ashoka. Feroze Shah Tughlaq, the fourteenth-century sultan of Delhi, even had two of the pillars shipped to his newly built palace complex. Therefore, it should not be surprising that, when India became independent, Mauryan lions and the chakra became the country’s national symbols. The founding fathers of the Indian Republic intuitively understood that the lions and the wheel stood for the power of the State. Indeed, Ashoka himself may have appropriated pre-existing symbolism. There are legends that associate Ashoka’s grandfather with lions. Scholars like John Irwin argue that some of the Ashokan columns may actually have been put up by his predecessors and that Ashoka had merely added his inscriptions to them! 26

  Ashoka ruled till he died at the age of seventy-two in 232 BC. The Mauryan empire collapsed soon after. Many arguments have been put forward to explain why the empire collapsed so quickly after Ashoka. There are those who feel that the emperor’s growing infatuation with Buddhist philosophy sapped the morale of the army and the administration. It is very difficult to say what exactly happened, but there is evidence that the empire had already begun to crumble in Ashoka’s later years. There are many stories about intra-family intrigues and feuds that left the ageing monarch increasingly powerless. In my view, the real problem was that Ashoka held on to power for too long. Despite his protestations about following the path of righteousness, he was unable to give up the trappings of power even when he was too feeble to rule effectively. Contrast this with the attitude of his grandfather and Chanakya, the founders of the empire. The problem of ageing rulers would haunt India through the centuries.

  OF CITIES AND HIGHWAYS

  By the time the Mauryan empire was established, the second cycle of India’s urbanization had been underway for a millennium. Taxila in the north-west was not just a vibrant city but an important intellectual hub. In the east, Tamralipti was established as a major port; it is likely that Emperor Ashoka sent his son Mahindra on a mission to Sri Lanka from there. The site is located across the river from Kolkata and is not far from the port of Haldia. The name ‘Tamralipta’ means ‘full of copper’ and may have originally been linked to export of copper goods. Archaeological excavations have revealed punch-marked coins from this period. As we will see in the next chapter, the port would evolve into an important international trading hub in subsequen
t centuries.

  The imperial capital of Pataliputra, of course, was the most important city in the empire. Megasthenes, 27 the Macedonian ambassador to Chandragupta, tells us that Pataliputra was surrounded by massive wooden palisades with 64 gates and 570 watch-towers. The city was shaped like a parallelogram 14.5 km in length and 2.5 km in breadth. Even if one does not take the numbers literally, they imply a very large city. Tower-bases and stockades found from excavations corroborate this. The main gates had wide timber-floored walkways with bridges across a moat system. The moat system, fed by the Son river, was almost 200 metres wide on the landward side. Along the Ganga, wooden piles were sunk into the mud to protect against inundation. Brick and stone were used to construct buildings inside the walls, especially for important structures. However, wood was a common building material and fires were a major hazard. 28 Megasthenes tells us that he had seen all the great cities of the east, including Susa and Ecbatana, but that Pataliputra was the greatest city in the world. Unfortunately, further excavations have become increasingly difficult as the growth of modern Patna has now covered the site.

  What was it like to live in a Mauryan city? Kautilya’s Arthashastra has a long list of municipal laws that give us a good insight into the civic concerns of the times. 29 For instance, there were traffic rules stating that bullock-carts were not allowed to move without a driver. A child could only drive a cart if accompanied by an adult. Reckless driving was punished except when the nose-string of the bullock broke accidentally or if the animal had panicked.

  The Arthashastra also contains instructions for waste-disposal, building codes, the maintenance of public spaces like parks and rules against encroachment into a neighbour’s property. We know that Kautilya did not approve of nosy neighbours as there is even a rule against interfering in the affairs of a neighbour. Very interestingly, there are specific injunctions against urinating and defecating in public spaces. The Arthashastra specifies fines for urinating or defecating near a water reservoir, a temple and a royal palace. One wonders why today’s Indian cities do not enforce the ancient example.

  The municipal laws specified in the Arthashastra clearly reflect a society that has a sophisticated understanding of urban life. Was this all relearned in the Iron Age or do they contain vestiges of the Harappan way of life? Of course, the majority of the people in the Mauryan empire lived in villages and Kautilya attaches a great deal of importance to agriculture, animal husbandry and land revenue. He also gives detailed instruction on the management of forests, especially those that supplied elephants. Summer was deemed a good time to catch elephants and twenty-year-olds were considered of the ideal age. At the same time, the capture of pregnant or suckling females and of cubs was strictly forbidden.

  The establishment of the Mauryan empire appears to have created a stable environment that encouraged internal and external trade. There were major imperial highways crossing the country. The most important of these imperial highways extended from Taxila to the port of Tamralipti in Bengal. The Mauryans were merely formalizing the Uttara Path that had already existed for a thousand years. The Macedonian ambassador Megasthenes very likely used it to visit the imperial capital of Pataliputra. As discussed earlier, this highway survives as NH1 between Amritsar and Delhi and as NH2 between Delhi and Kolkata. During Mauryan times, the section through Bihar would have taken a somewhat northerly route through Patna in order to accommodate the imperial capital.

  The Dakshina Path also remained an important highway, especially given the extensive Mauryan conquests in the south. However, it appears that the trajectory of the road had shifted somewhat eastwards since the Iron Age. The new route passed through Vidisha and then made its way to Pratishthana (modern Paithan in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra). It is likely that. by the Mauryan period, a branch of the southern highway already connected Ujjain to the ports of Gujarat although this route would become more important during the Gupta period.

  Meanwhile, the sea routes were gaining in importance. We know that, by Mauryan times, there was coastal shipping between Tamralipti in Bengal and Sri Lanka. Links with South East Asia were also being established. It is likely that the ships initially hugged the coast but, as we will discuss in the next chapter, nautical skills and shipbuilding technology were soon advanced enough to allow merchants to directly cross the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

  A SENSE OF HISTORY

  By the time the Mauryans created their empire, Indian civilization was already well developed and conscious of itself. It also had a developed sense of history as evidenced by the long lists of kings preserved in the Puranas and elsewhere (this is a comment about their intent, not necessarily their accuracy). The Mauryan empire was drawn from this preexisting milieu and used its symbols—including the idea of the Chakravartin or Universal Monarch. However, the Mauryans introduced an important innovation—the use of columns and rock inscriptions to record their presence. As already discussed, these were meant to mark territory and impress the subjects but, I suspect, they were also meant to speak to us. Like monarchs around the world, Ashoka wanted to be remembered. He wanted future generations to be impressed by his power and to think well of him.

  There is nothing wrong in this, it is only human. What is interesting is that later rulers instinctively understood what the Mauryans were trying to do. As we shall see in the following chapters, they not only created their own edifices but also systematically tried to link themselves to the Mauryans. Moreover, they continued to do this centuries after the Brahmi script had been forgotten and the original edicts could no longer be read. It is remarkable how this chain was deliberately sustained not just by Indian kings but also by rulers of foreign origin. It is as if these kings were conscious that they were just a moment in the history of a very ancient people and they wanted to record their place in it.

  One of the best places to experience this is Girnar hill in Junagarh, Gujarat. At the foot of the sacred hill, there is a rock outcrop with an Ashokan edict. More than three centuries later, a Saka (i.e. Scythian) king called Rudradaman added his own inscription next to it. The second inscription records the restoration of the Sudarshana reservoir. We are told that the reservoir was originally constructed by Pushyagupta, Chandragupta Maurya’s provincial governor, and that it was completed during Ashoka’s time by Tushaspa, an official of possibly Greek origin. The inscription goes on to say that the reservoir was severely damaged by a great storm and floods in the year 72 (probably 150 AD). This was considered a catastrophe by the local people, but Rudradaman proudly tells us that he had the lake restored within a short time and without resorting to forced labour or extra taxes.

  This is not the end of the story. Another three hundred years later, the Sudarshana lake burst its banks again. There is a third inscription on the rock that tells us that this time it was repaired by Emperor Skandagupta of the Gupta dynasty in 455-56 AD. If this is not a sense of history, what is?

  Girnar is remarkable not just for these inscriptions. It is one of those places where fragments from India’s long history sit piled up on top of each other. To experience this, climb up the hillock behind the rock inscriptions and above the picturesque Kali shrine. On one side, you will see Girnar hill with its multitude of ancient Hindu–Jain temples. On the other side is Junagarh fort and town. The fort is one of the oldest in the world and, according to legend, the upper citadel was built by Krishna’s army. Indeed, the very name Junagarh literally means old fort. Over the centuries, Saka, Rajput, and Muslim kings would rule over it. As we shall see, Junagarh would be the focus of important events when India gained independence in 1947. Barely half an hour’s drive away is Gir National Park, the last refuge of the Asiatic lion.

  4

  The Age of Merchants

  With the collapse of Mauryan hegemony, the outer edges of the empire dissolved into smaller kingdoms. A rump empire continued under the Shunga dynasty. It was still a substantial realm and the northern and southern trade routes continued to flourish. The imp
erial court continued to maintain international diplomatic relations as evidenced by a stone pillar raised by Heliodorus, the Greek ambassador in Vidisha, a major pit-stop on the Dakshina Path. Nonetheless, the north-western parts of the subcontinent were steadily occupied by Indo-Greek kingdoms that evolved a culture based on a mix of Indian, Greek and Bactrian elements. However, climate fluctuations would again play an important role in the chain of events.

  In the first century BC, a severe famine caused by excessive snow affected the area that we now call Mongolia.1 This was an area inhabited by fierce tribes of nomads called the Xiongnu. It is uncertain exactly who these people were but they were probably forerunners of the Mongols. These tribes had been the bane of early Chinese civilization and had prompted the First Emperor to build the earliest version of the Great Wall. The great drought caused the Xiongnu to migrate into the lands of another Central Asian tribe called the Yueh-Chih. In turn, the Yueh-Chih displaced the Sakas (Scythians), the Bactrians and Parthians. One by one, these groups were forced into the subcontinent. Thus, Afghanistan and North West India saw a succession of invasions and migrations.

  Of course, it was not all warfare and invasion. There were relatively peaceful periods when trade and culture flourished. Taxila remained a centre of learning and new urban centres appeared, especially under Kushan rule. Buddhist ideas made their way into Central Asia and then eventually to China. Nonetheless, it is fair to say that the North West was unsettled for several centuries after the decline of the Mauryas. The heart of Indian civilization had already shifted from the Sapta-Sindhu region to the Gangetic plains during the Iron Age. Now, the action shifted to the coasts due to a boom in maritime trade. We see this all along the coast from Gujarat in the west to Kerala in the south-western tip and then all along the eastern seaboard up to Tamralipti in Bengal.