• 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.
• From c. sixth century BCE, there is evidence that there were other trends as well.

Prinsep and Piyadassi

• Around 1830s, 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 referred to as Piyadassi – meaning “pleasant to behold”; there were a few inscriptions which also referred to the king as Asoka

The Earliest States

• 6^th century BCE
• Early states, cities, the growing use of iron, the development of coinage, etc.
• It also witnessed the growth of diverse systems of thought, including Buddhism and Jainism.
• Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention, amongst other things, sixteen states known as mahajanapadas
• Most mahajanapadas were ruled by kings, some, known as ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies, where power was shared by a number of men, often collectively called rajas.
• Both Mahavira and the Buddha belonged to such ganas.
• In some instances, as in the case of the Vajji sangha, the rajas probably controlled resources such as land collectively.
  Each mahajanapada had a capital city, which was often fortified.

• From c. sixth century BCE onwards, Brahmanas began composing Sanskrit texts known as the Dharmasutras.
• These laid down norms for rulers (as well as for other social categories), who were ideally expected to be Kshatriyas.
• Rulers were advised to collect taxes and tribute from cultivators, traders and artisans.

Sudarshana (beautiful) lake in Gujarat

• The Sudarshana lake was an artificial reservoir.
• We know about it from a rock inscription (c. second century CE) in Sanskrit, composed to record the achievements of the Shaka ruler Rudradaman.
• The inscription mentions that the lake, with embankments and water channels, was built by a local governor during the rule of the Mauryas.
• However, a terrible storm broke the embankments and water gushed out of the lake.
• Rudradaman, who was then ruling in the area, claimed to have got the lake repaired using his own resources, without imposing any tax on his subjects.
• Another inscription on the same rock (c. fifth century) mentions how one of the rulers of the Gupta dynasty got the lake repaired once again

Magadha

• Between 6^th and 4^th centuries BCE
• Agriculture was especially productive.
• Besides, iron mines (in present-day Jharkhand) were accessible and provided resources for tools and weapons.
• Elephants, an important component of the army
• Ganga and its tributaries provided a means of cheap and convenient communication.
• However, early Buddhist and Jaina writers who wrote about Magadha attributed its power to the policies of individuals: ruthlessly ambitious kings of whom Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Mahapadma Nanda are the best known, and their ministers, who helped implement their policies.
• Initially, Rajagaha (the Prakrit name for present-day Rajgir in Bihar) was the capital of Magadha.
• Interestingly, the old name means “house of the king”. Rajagaha was a fortified settlement, located amongst hills.
• Later, in 4^th century BCE, the capital was shifted to Pataliputra, present-day Patna, commanding routes of communication along the Ganga.

Languages and scripts

• Most Ashokan inscriptions were in the Prakrit language while those in the northwest of the subcontinent were in Aramaic and Greek.
• Most Prakrit inscriptions were written in the Brahmi script; however, some, in the northwest, were written in Kharosthi.
• The Aramaic and Greek scripts were used for inscriptions in Afghanistan.

An Early Empire- Mauryan

• Chandragupta Maurya (c. 321 BCE) extended control as far northwest as Afghanistan and Baluchistan, and his grandson Asoka, arguably the most famous ruler of early India, conquered Kalinga (present-day coastal Orissa)
• Account of Megasthenes (a Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya), which survives in fragments
• Arthashastra, parts of which were probably composed by Kautilya or Chanakya, traditionally believed to be the minister of Chandragupta.
• Besides, the Mauryas are mentioned in later Buddhist, Jaina and Puranic literature, as well as in Sanskrit literary works.
• While these are useful, the inscriptions of Asoka (c. 272/268-231 BCE) on rocks and pillars are often regarded as amongst the most valuable sources.
• Asoka was the first ruler who inscribed his messages to his subjects and officials on stone surfaces – natural rocks as well as polished pillars.
• He used the inscriptions to proclaim what he understood to be dhamma.
• This included respect towards elders, generosity towards Brahmanas and those who renounced worldly life, treating slaves and servants kindly, and respect for religions and traditions other than one’s own.

Administration

• There were five major political centres in the empire – the capital Pataliputra and the provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri, all mentioned in Ashokan inscriptions.
• Content of these inscriptions- same message engraved everywhere – from the present-day North West Frontier Provinces of Pakistan, to Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Uttarakhand in India.
• Taxila and Ujjayini being situated on important long-distance trade routes, while Suvarnagiri (literally, the golden mountain) was possibly important for tapping the gold mines of Karnataka.

Chiefs and chiefdoms

• A chief is a powerful man whose position may or may not be hereditary.
• He derives support from his kinfolk.
• His functions may include performing special rituals, leadership in warfare, and arbitrating disputes.
• He receives gifts from his subordinates (unlike kings who usually collect taxes) and often distributes these amongst his supporters.
• Generally, there are no regular armies and officials in chiefdoms.

• Megasthenes mentions a committee with six subcommittees for coordinating military activity.
• Asoka also tried to hold his empire together by propagating dhamma, the principles of which, as we have seen, were simple and virtually universally applicable.
• This, according to him, would ensure the well-being of people in this world and the next.
• Special officers, known as the dhamma mahamatta, were appointed to spread the message of dhamma.
• According to Greek sources, the Mauryan ruler had a standing army of 600,000 foot-soldiers, 30,000 cavalry and 9,000 elephants.
• Some historians consider these accounts to be exaggerated.

New Notions of Kingship

• The new kingdoms that emerged in the Deccan and further south, including the chiefdoms of the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas in Tamilakam (the name of the ancient Tamil country, which included parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, in addition to Tamil Nadu), proved to be stable and prosperous.
• Early Tamil Sangam texts contain poems describing chiefs and the ways in which they acquired and distributed resources.
• Many chiefs and kings, including the Satavahanas who ruled over parts of western and central India (c. second century BCE-second century CE) and the Shakas, a people of Central Asian origin who established kingdoms in the north-western and western parts of the subcontinent, derived revenues from long-distance trade.
• Satavahanas, once they acquired power they attempted to claim social status in a variety of ways.

Names of Satavahana kings from inscriptions

• Uniform title raja. Also note the following word, which ends with the term puta, a Prakrit word meaning “son”.
• The term Gotami-puta means “son of Gotami”.

Names like Gotami and Vasithi are feminine forms of Gotama and Vasistha, Vedic seers after whom gotras were named.

1. raja Gotami-puta Siri-Satakani
2. raja Vasithi-puta (sami-) Siri-Pulumayi
3. raja Gotami-puta sami-Siri-Yana-Satakani
4. raja Madhari-puta svami-Sakasena
5. raja Vasathi-puta Chatarapana-Satakani
6. raja Hariti-puta Vinhukada Chutukulanamda-Satakamni
7. raja Gotami-puta Siri-Vijaya- Satakani

• Some of the Satavahana rulers were polygynous (that is, had more than one wife).
• An examination of the names of women who married Satavahana rulers indicates that many of them had names derived from gotras such as Gotama and Vasistha, their father’s gotras.
• Satavahana rulers were identified through metronymics (names derived from that of the mother).

Kushanas (c. first century BCE first century CE)-

• vast kingdom extending from Central Asia to northwest India
• Colossal statues of Kushana rulers have been found installed in a shrine at Mat near Mathura (Uttar Pradesh).
• Similar statues have been found in a shrine in Afghanistan as well
• Many Kushana rulers also adopted the title devaputra, or “son of god”, possibly inspired by Chinese rulers who called themselves sons of heaven

Guptas-

• 4^th century
• Many of these depended on samantas, men who maintained themselves through local resources including control over land.
• They offered homage and provided military support to rulers.
• Powerful samantas could become kings: conversely, weak rulers might find themselves being reduced to positions of subordination.
• Histories of the Gupta rulers have been reconstructed from literature, coins and inscriptions, including prashastis, composed in praise of kings in particular, and patrons in general, by poets.
• The Prayaga Prashasti (also known as the Allahabad Pillar Inscription) composed in Sanskrit by Harishena, the court poet of Samudragupta, arguably the most powerful of the Gupta rulers (c. fourth century CE), is a case in point.

A Kushana coin by King Kanishka

Sandstone sculpture of a Kushana king

A Changing Countryside

• The Jatakas were written in Pali around the middle of the first millennium CE.
• One story known as the Gandatindu Jataka describes the plight of the subjects of a wicked king; these included elderly women and men, cultivators, herders, village boys and even animals.
• In some parts of the Ganga valley, production of paddy was dramatically increased by the introduction of transplantation, although this meant back-breaking work for the producer.
• Use of irrigation, through wells and tanks, and less commonly, canals.
• Communities as well as individuals organised the construction of irrigation works
• The term gahapati was often used in Pali texts to designate the second and third categories.
• The large landholders, as well as the village headman (whose position was often hereditary), emerged as powerful figures, and often exercised control over other cultivators.
• Early Tamil literature (the Sangam texts) also mentions different categories of people living in the villages – large landowners or vellalar, ploughmen or uzhavar and slaves or adimai.
• It is likely that these differences were based on differential access to land, labour and some of the new technologies.
• The Manusmrti is one of the best-known legal texts of early India, written in Sanskrit and compiled between c. 2^nd century BCE and c. 2^nd century CE.
• The Harshacharita is a biography of Harshavardhana, the ruler of Kanauj, composed in Sanskrit by his court poet, Banabhatta (c. 7^th century CE).
• This is an excerpt from the text, an extremely rare representation of life in a settlement on the outskirts of a forest in the Vindhyas.
• The records that have survived are generally about grants to religious institutions or to Brahmanas.
• Most inscriptions were in Sanskrit.
• In some cases, and especially from 7^th century onwards, part of the inscription was in Sanskrit, while the rest was in a local language such as Tamil or Telugu.
• Prabhavati Gupta was the daughter of one of the most important rulers in early Indian history, Chandragupta II (c. 375-415 CE).
• The inscription also gives us an idea about rural populations – these included Brahmanas and peasants, as well as others who were expected to provide a range of produce to the king or his representatives.
• There were regional variations in the sizes of land donated – ranging from small plots to vast stretches of uncultivated land – and the rights given to donees (the recipients of the grant).
• As kings were losing control over their samantas, they tried to win allies by making grants of land.
• They also feel that kings tried to project themselves as supermen because they were losing control: they wanted to present at least a façade of power Land grants provide some insight into the relationship between cultivators and the state.

Pataliputra

• Pataliputra, began as a village known as Pataligrama.
• In the fifth century BCE, the Magadhan rulers decided to shift their capital from Rajagaha to this settlement and renamed it.
• By the fourth century BCE, it was the capital of the Mauryan Empire
• Subsequently, its importance apparently declined.
• When the Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang visited the city in the seventh century CE

Towns and Trade

• From c. sixth century BCE. Many of these were capitals of mahajanapadas.
• Virtually all major towns were located along routes of communication.
• Pataliputra was on riverine route
• Ujjayini, was along land route, and yet others, such as Puhar, were near the coast, from where sea routes began.
• Mathura was bustling centre of commercial, cultural and political activity.
• Kings and ruling elites lived in fortified cities.
• Excavations include fine pottery bowls and dishes, with a glossy finish, known as Northern Black Polished Ware, probably used by rich people, and ornaments, tools, weapons, vessels, figurines, made of a wide range of materials – gold, silver, copper, bronze, ivory, glass, shell and terracotta.

• By the second century BCE, short votive inscriptions mention the name of the donor, and sometimes specify his/ her occupation as well.
• They tell us about people who lived in towns: washing folk, weavers, scribes, carpenters, potters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, officials, religious teachers, merchants and kings.
• Sometimes, guilds or shrenis, organisations of craft producers and merchants, are mentioned as well.
• These guilds probably procured raw materials, regulated production, and marketed the finished product.
• It is likely that craftspersons used a range of iron tools to meet the growing demands of urban elites Votive inscriptions record gifts made to religious institutions
• From the 6^th century BCE, land and river routes criss-crossed the subcontinent and extended in various directions – overland into Central Asia and beyond, and overseas, from ports that dotted the coastline – extending across the Arabian Sea to East and North Africa and West Asia, and through the Bay of Bengal to Southeast Asia and China.
• Successful merchants, designated as masattuvan in Tamil and setthis and satthavahas in Prakrit
• Spices, especially pepper, were in high demand in the Roman Empire, as were textiles and medicinal plants, and these were all transported across the Arabian Sea to the Mediterranean.

Coins and Kings

• Punch-marked coins made of silver and copper (c. sixth century BCE onwards) were amongst the earliest to be minted and used.
• These have been recovered from excavations at a number of sites throughout the subcontinent.
• The first coins to bear the names and images of rulers were issued by the Indo-Greeks, who established control over the north-western part of the subcontinent c. 2^nd century BCE.
• The first gold coins were issued c. first century CE by the Kushanas.
• These were virtually identical in weight with those issued by contemporary Roman emperors and the Parthian rulers of Iran, and have been found from several sites in north India and Central Asia.
• Coins were also issued by tribal republics such as that of the Yaudheyas of Punjab and Haryana (c. first century CE).
• Some of the most spectacular gold coins were issued by the Gupta rulers.
• The earliest issues are remarkable for their purity

Deciphering Brahmi

• The script used in most Ashokan inscriptions- Brahmi script
• From the late 18^th century, European scholars aided by Indian pandits worked backwards from contemporary Bengali and Devanagari (the script used to write Hindi) manuscripts, comparing their letters with older specimens.
• Scholars who studied early inscriptions sometimes assumed these were in Sanskrit, although the earliest inscriptions were, in fact, in Prakrit
• James Prinsep- Ashokan Brahmi- 1838
• Coins of Indo-Greek kings contain the names of kings written in Greek and Kharosthi scripts.
• Asoka, is not mentioned in the inscription (Source 10)

Titles adopted by the ruler-

–devanampiya, often translated as “beloved of the gods” and piyadassi, or “pleasant to behold”

The name Asoka is mentioned in some other inscriptions, which also contain these titles

The limitation of inscriptional evidence

• Letters are very faintly engraved
• Reconstructions are uncertain routine agricultural practices and the joys and sorrows of daily existence find no mention in inscriptions, which focus, more often than not, on grand, unique events.

Major Political and Economic Developments

Major Advances in Epigraphy

Chapter 3
Kinship, Caste and Class
Early Societies
(C. 600 BCE-600 CE)

• Mahabharata, a colossal epic running in its present form into over 100,000 verses with depictions of a wide range of social categories and situations
• A terracotta sculpture depicting a scene from the Mahabharata (West Bengal), c. seventeenth century

Kinship and Marriage Many Rules and Varied Practices

• Often people belonging to the same family share food and other resources, and live, work and perform rituals together.
• Families are usually parts of larger networks of people defined as relatives, or to use a more technical term, kinfolk.

Terms for family and kin

• Sanskrit texts use the term kula to designate families and jnati for the larger network of kinfolk.
• The term vamsha is used for lineage.

The ideal of patriliny

• Mahabharata is a story about this.
• It describes a feud over land and power between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, who belonged to a single ruling family, that of the Kurus, a lineage dominating one of the janapadas
• After that, patrilineal succession was proclaimed.
• Patriliny means tracing descent from father to son, grandson and so on.
• Matriliny is the term used when descent is traced through the mother

Rules of marriage

Daughters had no claims to the resources of the household

Kanyadana or the gift of a daughter in marriage was an important religious duty of the father

Types of marriages

1. Endogamy refers to marriage within a unit – this could be a kin group, caste, or a group living in the same locality.
2. Exogamy refers to marriage outside the unit.
3. Polygyny is the practice of a man having several wives.
4. Polyandry is the practice of a woman having several husbands.

1^st, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th forms of marriage from the Manusmriti-

1^st- The gift of a daughter, after dressing her in costly clothes and honouring her with presents of jewels, to a man learned in the Veda whom the father himself invites.

4^th- The gift of a daughter by the father after he has addressed the couple with the text, “May both of you perform your duties together”, and has shown honour to the bridegroom.

5^th- When the bridegroom receives a maiden, after having given as much wealth as he can afford to the kinsmen and to the bride herself, according to his own will.

6^th-  The voluntary union of a maiden and her lover; which springs from desire

• Codes of social Behaviour given by Brahmanas called Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras (In Sanskrit)
• Manusmriti was compiled between c. 200 BCE and 200 CE.
• Each gotra was named after a Vedic seer, and all those who belonged to the same gotra were regarded as his descendants.
• Two rules about gotra-
• Women were expected to give up their father’s gotra and adopt that of their husband on marriage and
• Members of the same gotra could not marry.

Metronymics in the Upanishads

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the earliest Upanishads, contains a list of successive generations of teachers and students, many of whom were designated by metronymics

Social Differences

• The Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras also contained rules about the ideal “occupations” of the four categories or varnas.
• Brahmanas were supposed to study and teach the Vedas, perform sacrifices and get sacrifices performed, and give and receive gifts.
• Kshatriyas were to engage in warfare, protect people and administer justice, study the Vedas, get sacrifices performed, and make gifts.
• The last three “occupations” were also assigned to the Vaishyas, who were in addition expected to engage in agriculture, pastoralism and trade.
• Shudras were assigned only one occupation – that of serving the three “higher” varnas.
• The Brahmanas evolved two or three strategies for enforcing these norms.
• One, as we have just seen, was to assert that the varna order was of divine origin.
• Second, they advised kings to ensure that these norms were followed within their kingdoms.
• And third, they attempted to persuade people that their status was determined by birth. However, this was not always easy.
• So prescriptions were often reinforced by stories told in the Mahabharata and other texts.

Non-Kshatriya kings

• According to the Shastras, only Kshatriyas could be kings.
• While later Buddhist texts suggested they were Kshatriyas, Brahmanical texts described them as being of “low” origin.
• The Shungas and Kanvas, the immediate successors of the Mauryas, were Brahmanas.
• In fact, political power was effectively open to anyone who could muster support and resources, and rarely depended on birth as a Kshatriya.
• Other rulers, such as the Shakas who came from Central Asia, were regarded as mlechchhas, barbarians or outsiders by the Brahmanas.
• However, one of the earliest inscriptions in Sanskrit describes how Rudradaman, the best-known Shaka ruler (c. second century CE), rebuilt Sudarshana lake.
• This suggests that powerful mlechchhas were familiar with Sanskritic traditions.
• The best-known ruler of the Satavahana dynasty, Gotami-puta Siri-Satakani, claimed to be both a unique Brahmana (eka bamhana) and a destroyer of the pride of Kshatriyas.
• There was no intermarriage amongst members of the four varnas.
• At the same time, he entered into a marriage alliance with the kin of Rudradaman.
• The integration within the framework of caste was often a complicated process.
• The Satavahanas claimed to be Brahmanas, whereas according to the Brahmanas, kings ought to have been Kshatriyas.
• They claimed to uphold the fourfold varna order, but entered into marriage alliances with people who were supposed to be excluded from the system.
• They practised endogamy instead of the exogamous system recommended in the Brahmanical texts.

The case of the merchants

• Sanskrit texts and inscriptions used the term vanik to designate merchants.
• While trade was defined as an occupation for Vaishyas in the Shastras, a more complex situation is evident in plays such as the Mrichchhakatika written by Shudraka (c. fourth century CE),
• Here, the hero Charudatta was described as both a Brahmana and a sarthavaha or merchant And a fifth-century inscription describes two brothers who made a donation for the construction of a temple as kshatriya-vaniks

Major Textual Traditions

Major Landmarks in the Study of the Mahabharata

Buddhist texts

• The Buddha (and other teachers) taught orally – through discussion and debate.
• Men and women (perhaps children as well) attended these discourses and discussed what they heard.
• None of the Buddha’s speeches were written down during his lifetime.
• After his death (c. fifth-fourth century BCE) his teachings were compiled by his disciples at a council of “elders” or senior monks at Vesali (Pali for Vaishali in present-day Bihar).
• These compilations were known as Tipitaka – literally, three baskets to hold different types of texts.
• They were first transmitted orally and then written and classified according to length as well as subject matter.
• The Vinaya Pitaka included rules and regulations for those who joined the sangha or monastic order; the Buddha’s teachings were included in the Sutta Pitaka; and the Abhidhamma Pitaka dealt with philosophical matters.
• Each pitaka comprised a number of individual texts. Later, commentaries were written on these texts by Buddhist scholars
• As Buddhism travelled to new regions such as Sri Lanka, other texts such as the Dipavamsa (literally, the chronicle of the island) and Mahavamsa (the great chronicle) were written, containing regional histories of Buddhism.
• Many of these works contained biographies of the Buddha.
• Some of the oldest texts are in Pali, while later compositions are in Sanskrit.
• When Buddhism spread to East Asia, pilgrims such as Fa Xian and Xuan Zang travelled all the way from China to India in search of texts.
• These they took back to their own country, where they were translated by scholars.
• Indian Buddhist teachers also travelled to faraway places, carrying texts to disseminate the teachings of the Buddha.
• Buddhist texts were preserved in manuscripts for several centuries in monasteries in different parts of Asia.
• Modern translations have been prepared from Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan texts.
• Sutta Pitaka, describing a conversation between king Ajatasattu, the ruler of Magadha, and the Buddha

Beyond Worldly Pleasures- The Message of Mahavira

• The basic philosophy of the Jainas was already in existence in north India before the birth of Vardhamana, who came to be known as Mahavira, in the sixth century BCE. According to Jaina tradition,
• Mahavira was preceded by 23 other teachers or tirthankaras – literally, those who guide men and women across the river of existence.
• The most important idea in Jainism is that the entire world is animated: even stones, rocks and water have life.
• Non-injury to living beings, especially to humans, animals, plants and insects, is central to Jaina philosophy.
• In fact the principle of ahimsa, emphasised within Jainism, has left its mark on Indian thinking as a whole.
• According to Jaina teachings, the cycle of birth and rebirth is shaped through karma.
• Asceticism and penance are required to free oneself from the cycle of karma.
• This can be achieved only by renouncing the world; therefore, monastic existence is a necessary condition of salvation.
• Jaina monks and nuns took five vows: to abstain from killing, stealing and lying; to observe celibacy; and to abstain from possessing property.

The spread of Jainism

• Gradually, Jainism spread to many parts of India.
• Like the Buddhists, Jaina scholars produced a wealth of literature in a variety of languages – Prakrit, Sanskrit and Tamil.
• For centuries, manuscripts of these texts were carefully preserved in libraries attached to temples.
• Some of the earliest stone sculptures associated with religious traditions were produced by devotees of the Jaina tirthankaras

The Buddha and Quest for Enlightenment

• Over the centuries, his message spread across the subcontinent and beyond – through Central Asia to China, Korea and Japan, and through Sri Lanka, across the seas to Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia.
• According to these traditions, Siddhartha, as the Buddha was named at birth, was the son of a chief of the Sakya clan.

He taught dhamma or the path of righteous living.

A sculpture (c. 200 CE) from Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), depicting the departure of the Buddha from his palace

The Teachings of the Buddha

• The Buddha’s teachings have been reconstructed from stories, found mainly in the Sutta Pitaka.
• Some stories describe his miraculous powers, while others suggest that the Buddha tried to convince people through reason and persuasion rather than through displays of supernatural power.
• Stories were narrated in the language spoken by ordinary people so that these could be easily understood.
• According to Buddhist philosophy, the world is transient (anicca) and constantly changing; it is also soulless (anatta) as there is nothing permanent or eternal in it.
• Within this transient world, sorrow (dukkha) is intrinsic to human existence.
• It is by following the path of moderation between severe penance and self-indulgence that human beings can rise above these worldly troubles.
• In the earliest forms of Buddhism, whether or not god existed was irrelevant
• The Buddha regarded the social world as the creation of humans rather than of divine origin.
• Therefore, he advised kings and gahapatis to be humane and ethical.
• Individual effort was expected to transform social relations.
• The Buddha emphasised individual agency and righteous action as the means to escape from the cycle of rebirth and attain self-realisation and nibbana, literally the extinguishing of the ego and desire – and thus end the cycle of suffering for those who renounced the world.
• Soon there grew a body of disciples of the Buddha and he founded a sangha, an organisation of monks who too became teachers of dhamma.
• These monks lived simply, possessing only the essential requisites for survival, such as a bowl to receive food once a day from the laity. As they lived on alms, they were known as bhikkhus.
• Initially, only men were allowed into the sangha, but later women also came to be admitted.
• According to Buddhist texts, this was made possible through the mediation of Ananda, one of the Buddha’s dearest disciples, who persuaded him to allow women into the sangha.
• The Buddha’s foster mother, Mahapajapati Gotami was the first woman to be ordained as a bhikkhuni.
• The Buddha’s followers came from many social groups.
• They included kings, wealthy men and gahapatis, and also humbler folk: workers, slaves and craftspeople.
• Once within the sangha, all were regarded as equal, having shed their earlier social identities on becoming bhikkhus and bhikkhunis.
• The internal functioning of the sangha was based on the traditions of ganas and sanghas, where consensus was arrived at through discussions.
• If that failed, decisions were taken by a vote on the subject.
• The importance attached to conduct and values rather than claims of superiority based on birth, the emphasis placed on metta (fellow feeling) and karuna (compassion), especially for those who were younger and weaker than one, were ideas that drew men and women to Buddhist teachings.

Stupas

• From earliest times, people tended to regard certain places as sacred.
• These included sites with special trees or unique rocks, or sites of awe inspiring natural beauty.
• These sites, with small shrines attached to them, were sometimes described as chaityas.

Buddhist literature mentions several chaityas.

• It also describes places associated with the Buddha’s life–
• where he was born (Lumbini),
• where he attained enlightenment (Bodh Gaya),
• where he gave his first sermon (Sarnath) and
• where he attained nibbana (Kusinagara)
• Gradually, each of these places came to be regarded as sacred.
• About 200 years after the time of the Buddha, Asoka erected a pillar at Lumbini to mark the fact that he had visited the place.
• Why were stupas built?
• This was because relics of the Buddha such as his bodily remains or objects used by him were buried there.
• These were mounds known as stupas.
• The tradition of erecting stupas may have been pre-Buddhist, but they came to be associated with Buddhism.
• Since they contained relics regarded as sacred, the entire stupa came to be venerated as an emblem of both the Buddha and Buddhism.
• According to a Buddhist text known as the Ashokavadana, Asoka distributed portions of the Buddha’s relics to every important town and ordered the construction of stupas over them.
• By the second century BCE a number of stupas, including those at Bharhut, Sanchi and Sarnath , had been built

How were stupas built?

• Inscriptions found on the railings and pillars of stupas record donations made for building and decorating them.
• Some donations were made by kings such as the Satavahanas; others were made by guilds, such as that of the ivory workers who financed part of one of the gateways at Sanchi.
• Hundreds of donations were made by women and men who mention their names, sometimes adding the name of the place from where they came, as well as their occupations and names of their relatives.
• Bhikkhus and bhikkhunis also contributed towards building these monuments.

The structure of the stupa

• The stupa (a Sanskrit word meaning a heap) originated as a simple semi-circular mound of earth, later called anda.
• Gradually, it evolved into a more complex structure, balancing round and square shapes.
• Above the anda was the harmika, a balcony like structure that represented the abode of the gods.
• Arising from the harmika was a mast called the yashti, often surmounted by a chhatri or umbrella.
• Around the mound was a railing, separating the sacred space from the secular world.
• The early stupas at Sanchi and Bharhut were plain except for the stone railings, which resembled a bamboo or wooden fence, and the gateways, which were richly carved and installed at the four cardinal points.
• Worshippers entered through the eastern gateway and walked around the mound in a clockwise direction keeping the mound on the right, imitating the sun’s course through the sky.
• Later, the mound of the stupas came to be elaborately carved with niches and sculptures as at Amaravati, and Shahji- ki-Dheri in Peshawar (Pakistan)

“Discovering” Stupas- Amaravati and Sanchi

• In 1796, a local raja who wanted to build a temple stumbled upon the ruins of the stupa at Amaravati.
• British official named Colin Mackenzie visited the site
• In 1854, Walter Elliot, the commissioner of Guntur (Andhra Pradesh), visited Amaravati and collected several sculptures panels and took them away to Madras. (These came to be called the Elliot marbles after him.)
• He also discovered the remains of the western gateway and came to the conclusion that the structure at Amaravati was one of the largest and most magnificent Buddhist stupas ever built.
• By the 1850s, some of the slabs from Amaravati had begun to be taken to different places: to the Asiatic Society of Bengal at Calcutta, to the India Office in Madras and some even to London.

Sculpture

Stories in stone

• Sculpture at Sanchi identify- scene from Vessantara Jataka.
• This is a story about a generous prince who gave away everything to a Brahmana, and went to live in the forest with his wife and children.

Symbols of worship

• Mahaparinibbana- used symbol was the wheel
• This stood for the first sermon of the Buddha, delivered at Sarnath.
• The tree symbolises an event in the life of the Buddha; Buddha attained enlightenment here

Popular traditions

• Other sculptures at Sanchi were perhaps not directly inspired by Buddhist ideas.
• The shalabhanjika motif suggests that many people who turned to Buddhism enriched it with their own pre-Buddhist and even non-Buddhist beliefs, practices and ideas.
• Some of the recurrent motifs in the sculpture at Sanchi were evidently derived from these traditions.

Jatakas-

• They contain several animal stories that are depicted at Sanchi, it is likely that many of these animals were carved to create lively scenes to draw viewers.
• Also, animals were often used as symbols of human attributes.
• Elephants, for example, were depicted to signify strength and wisdom.

Ajanta Paintings

• Ajanta (Maharashtra) are the most famous.
• The paintings at Ajanta depict stories from the Jatakas.
• These include depictions of courtly life, processions, men and women at work, and festivals.
• The artists used the technique of shading to give a three-dimensional quality.
• Some of the paintings are extremely naturalistic

A woman surrounded by lotuses and elephants which seem to be sprinkling water on her as if performing an abhisheka or consecration.

While some historians identify the figure as Maya, the mother of the Buddha, others identify her with a popular goddess, Gajalakshmi – literally, the goddess of good fortune – who is associated with elephants.

The development of Mahayana Buddhism

• Early Buddhist teachings had given great importance to self-effort in achieving nibbana
• Bodhisattas were perceived as deeply compassionate beings who accumulated merit through their efforts but used this not to attain nibbana and thereby abandon the world, but to help others.
• The worship of images of the Buddha and Bodhisattas became an important part of this tradition.
• This new way of thinking was called Mahayana– literally, the “great vehicle”.
• Those who adopted these beliefs described the older tradition as Hinayana or the “lesser vehicle”.

Hinayana or Theravada

• Supporters of Mahayana regarded other Buddhists as followers of Hinayana.
• However, followers of the older tradition described themselves as theravadins, that is, those who followed the path of old, respected teachers, there as.

An image of the Buddha from Mathura

The growth of Puranic Hinduism

• Vaishnavism -a form of Hinduism within which Vishnu was worshipped as the principal deity
• Shaivism- a tradition within which Shiva was regarded as the chief god
• In the case of Vaishnavism, cults developed around the various avatars or incarnations of the deity.
• Ten avatars were recognised within the tradition.
• These were forms that the deity was believed to have assumed in order to save the world whenever it was threatened by disorder and destruction because of the dominance of evil forces.
• Shiva was symbolised by the linga, although he was occasionally represented in human form too.
• All such representations depicted a complex set of ideas about the deities and their attributes through symbols such as headdresses, ornaments and ayudhas– weapons or auspicious objects the deities hold in their hands– how they are seated, etc.
• Puranas, compiled by Brahmanas (by about the middle of the first millennium CE).
• They contained much that had been composed and been in circulation for centuries, including stories about gods and goddesses.
• Generally, they were written in simple Sanskrit verse, and were meant to be read aloud to everybody, including women and Shudras, who did not have access to Vedic learning
• Puranas evolved through interaction amongst people – priests, merchants, and ordinary men and women who travelled from place to place sharing ideas and beliefs.
• An image of Durga, Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu)
• The Varaha or boar avatar of Vishnu rescuing the earth goddess, Aihole (Karnataka) c. sixth century CE

Building temples

• The early temple was a small square room, called the garbhagriha, with a single doorway for the worshipper to enter and offer worship to the image.
• Gradually, a tall structure, known as the shikhara, was built over the central shrine.
• Temple walls were often decorated with sculpture.
• Later temples became far more elaborate– with assembly halls, huge walls and gateways, and arrangements for supplying water
• One of the unique features of early temples was that some of these were hollowed out of huge rocks, as artificial caves.
• Some of the earliest of these were constructed in 3^rd century BCE on the orders of Asoka for renouncers who belonged to the Ajivika sect.
• This tradition evolved through various stages and culminated much later– in the 8^th century – in the carving out of an entire temple, that of Kailashnatha (a name of Shiva).

A Bodhisatta from Gandhara

Major Religious Developments