NCERT Book Class 12 History Chapter 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns

28 THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY

THEME
THEME TWO Kings, Farmers and Towns
T WO Earl
Ear St
ly S tat es and Economies
ates
(c. 600 BCE - 600 CE)

There were several developments in different parts of the
subcontinent during the long span of 1,500 years following
the end of the Harappan civilisation. This was also the
period during which the Rigveda was composed by people
living along the Indus and its tributaries. Agricultural
settlements emerged in many parts of the
subcontinent, including north India, the
Deccan Plateau, and parts of Karnataka.
Besides, there is evidence of pastoral
populations in the Deccan and further
south. New modes of disposal of the dead,
including the making of elaborate stone
structures known as megaliths, emerged in
central and south India from the first
millennium BCE. In many cases, the dead
were buried with a rich range of iron tools
and weapons.
Fig. 2.1 From c . sixth century B C E , there is
An inscription, Sanchi evidence that there were other trends as well. Perhaps
(Madhya Pradesh), the most visible was the emergence of early states, empires
c. second century BCE and kingdoms. Underlying these political processes were
other changes, evident in the ways in which agricultural
production was organised. Simultaneously, new towns
appeared almost throughout the subcontinent.
Historians attempt to understand these developments
by drawing on a range of sources – inscriptions, texts,
coins and visual material. As we will see, this is a complex
process. You will also notice that these sources do not
tell the entire story.

1. Prinsep and Piyadassi
Some of the most momentous developments in Indian
epigraphy took place in the 1830s. This was when
James Prinsep, an officer in the mint of the East
India Company, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi,
two scripts used in the earliest inscriptions and
coins. He found that most of these mentioned a king
Epigraphy is the study of referred to as Piyadassi – meaning “pleasant to
inscriptions. behold”; there were a few inscriptions which also