Big picture
After the Harappan civilisation, a new wave of states and cities arose in the Ganga valley and beyond from about the sixth century BCE. Kings ruled kingdoms called mahajanapadas; Magadha grew into the Mauryan empire; farmers expanded agriculture with new tools; and towns, coins and long-distance trade flourished.
Much of this history comes from inscriptions, texts engraved on stone or metal. The story of how they were deciphered, and what they can and can't tell us, is a key part of the chapter.
Learning goals
Explain how James Prinsep deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi.
Describe the mahajanapadas and explain why Magadha became powerful.
Describe the sources for and administration of the Mauryan empire, and Asoka's dhamma.
Explain new notions of kingship under the Kushanas and Guptas, including prashastis.
Explain changes in agriculture and rural society, land grants and Sangam terms.
Describe towns, trade, coins and guilds.
Explain the limits of inscriptional evidence.
Core ideas
1. Deciphering scripts
James Prinsep, an officer of the East India Company's mint, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi in the 1830s.
Brahmi was used in most Asokan inscriptions; Kharosthi in the north-west.
Inscriptions mentioned a king called Piyadassi ("pleasant to behold"). Some inscriptions also called him Asoka, and Buddhist texts identified Asoka with Piyadassi. This allowed historians to begin reconstructing early Indian political history.
Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions.
2. The sixteen mahajanapadas
From the sixth century BCE, Buddhist and Jaina texts list sixteen mahajanapadas, including Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara and Avanti.
Most were ruled by kings; some, called ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies where power was shared by many men called rajas. The Vajji sangha is an example; the Buddha and Mahavira belonged to ganas.
Each had a capital, often fortified. Rulers collected taxes and tribute from farmers, traders and artisans, and maintained armies and officials.
Brahmanas composed the Dharmasutras, which laid down norms for rulers and society, ideally that rulers should be Kshatriyas.
3. The rise of Magadha
Between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE, Magadha (in present-day Bihar) became the most powerful mahajanapada.
Reasons:
Fertile land in the Ganga valley gave high agricultural productivity.
Iron ore mines nearby (in present-day Jharkhand) supplied tools and weapons.
Elephants from the forests were used in the army.
The Ganga and its tributaries provided cheap and convenient transport.
Ambitious rulers such as Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Mahapadma Nanda, and able ministers.
Capitals were well protected: Rajagaha (Rajgir), a fortified hill settlement, and later Pataliputra (Patna), with river access.
4. The Mauryan empire
Chandragupta Maurya founded the empire around 321 BCE; it extended to Afghanistan and Baluchistan. His grandson Asoka, the best-known ruler, conquered Kalinga (coastal Odisha).
Sources:
Archaeological finds, especially sculpture.
Megasthenes' account, the *Indica* (a Greek ambassador to Chandragupta's court; survives in fragments).
Kautilya's *Arthashastra*, probably composed in parts by Chanakya, on statecraft.
Later Jaina, Buddhist and Puranic literature, and Sanskrit works.
Asoka's inscriptions on rocks and pillars, the most valuable source.
Administration:
There were five major political centres: the capital Pataliputra and the provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri. Taxila and Ujjayini were on important trade routes; Suvarnagiri was important for gold mines.
Control was strongest around the capital and provincial centres; the empire was diverse, so administration was probably not uniform.
Communication along land and river routes was vital.
Megasthenes described a committee of six subcommittees for military affairs: navy, transport and provisions, foot soldiers, horses, chariots and elephants.
Asoka's dhamma: after the bloodshed of the Kalinga war, Asoka tried to hold the empire together by propagating dhamma, a set of moral principles: respect for elders, generosity towards Brahmanas and renouncers, treating slaves and servants kindly, and respect for other religions and traditions. He appointed special officers, dhamma mahamattas, to spread it. Dhamma was not a religion but a code of conduct for this world and the next.
The empire's significance: nineteenth-century historians saw it as the first great empire; twentieth-century nationalists celebrated Asoka as a model ruler. Yet it lasted only about 150 years and didn't cover the whole subcontinent.
5. New notions of kingship
Chiefs and kings in the south: the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas emerged in Tamilakam around 2,000 years ago; Sangam texts describe chiefs who received and distributed gifts.
Divine kingship: the Kushanas (c. first century BCE to first century CE) used titles like devaputra ("son of god") and erected colossal statues of themselves in shrines, for example at Mat near Mathura and in Afghanistan. They may have been inspired by Chinese rulers who called themselves sons of heaven.
The Guptas (from the fourth century CE) relied on dependent chiefs (samantas) and land. Their history is reconstructed from literature, coins, inscriptions and prashastis.
Prashastis are poems in praise of kings. The Prayaga prashasti (Allahabad Pillar Inscription) was composed in Sanskrit by Harishena, the court poet of Samudragupta, describing him as a mighty conqueror and equal to the gods. Prashastis glorify their patrons, so historians use them carefully.
6. Changes in the countryside
Agriculture: the iron ploughshare spread in the fertile Ganga valley, and paddy transplantation greatly increased yields. In other areas, the hoe was used. Irrigation through wells, tanks and canals expanded.
Social differentiation: the benefits of new technology weren't equal. Buddhist texts mention landless agricultural labourers, small peasants and large landholders. The gahapati was the master of a household, often a wealthy landowner.
Sangam texts (Tamil) mention vellalar (large landowners), uzhavar (ploughmen) and adimai (slaves).
Land grants: from the early centuries CE, kings granted land, often to religious institutions or Brahmanas, recorded in inscriptions (often on copper plates). For example, Prabhavati Gupta, daughter of Chandragupta II and a Vakataka queen, granted land: an unusual record showing a woman with access to land. Land grants may reflect an attempt to extend agriculture into new areas, or kings granting land because their control was weakening.
7. Towns and trade
Urban centres grew from about the sixth century BCE, often capitals of mahajanapadas, located along rivers and trade routes: Pataliputra, Ujjayini, Puhar (Kaveripattinam), Mathura.
Towns had fortifications, and finds include fine pottery called Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW), ornaments, tools and terracotta figurines.
Short votive inscriptions record gifts to religious institutions by washermen, weavers, scribes, carpenters, potters, goldsmiths and merchants.
Guilds (shrenis): associations of craftsmen and merchants that procured raw materials, regulated production and marketed products.
Trade: land and river routes linked the subcontinent; sea routes reached East Africa, West Asia and Southeast Asia. Goods included salt, grain, cloth, metal ores, stone, timber, medicinal plants and spices. Roman coins found in south India show trade with Rome.
Coins: punch-marked coins of silver and copper were the earliest; the Indo-Greeks issued coins with images of kings; the Kushanas issued the first large-scale gold coins; the Yaudheyas (tribal republics of Punjab and Haryana) issued copper coins; the Guptas issued remarkable gold coins.
8. The limits of inscriptional evidence
Inscriptions are invaluable, but:
Some letters are faintly engraved, damaged or missing.
The exact meaning of words may be uncertain.
Many inscriptions haven't survived or haven't been deciphered or translated.
Inscriptions usually record what their patrons wanted; they say little about ordinary people's everyday lives, joys and sorrows.
They focus on political and economic events, sometimes with exaggeration (as in prashastis).
A reliable approach to questions
For "why Magadha", list the geographical, economic and political reasons.
For Mauryan administration, name the five centres, the sources and the military committee.
For dhamma, give its principles and explain that it was a code of conduct, not a religion.
For kingship, contrast Kushana divine titles with Gupta prashastis.
For sources, always mention the value and the limits of inscriptions.
Connections that matter
Bricks, beads and bones described the earlier Harappan cities.
Kinship, caste and class examines the social norms of this period.
Thinkers, beliefs and buildings covers Buddhism, Jainism and stupas, patronised by rulers like Asoka.
Common mistakes
Crediting Prinsep with deciphering the Harappan script. He deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi.
Calling Asoka's dhamma a new religion.
Saying the Mauryan empire had uniform control everywhere.
Taking prashastis as unbiased history.
Forgetting that some mahajanapadas were ganas or sanghas, not monarchies.
Revision checklist
I can explain Prinsep's decipherment and Piyadassi.
I can explain the mahajanapadas and the rise of Magadha.
I can describe Mauryan sources, administration and dhamma.
I can explain Kushana and Gupta kingship and prashastis.
I can describe agrarian change, social differentiation and land grants.
I can describe towns, guilds, coins and trade, and the limits of inscriptions.