Australian National University THESES SIS/LIBRARY TELEPHONE: +61 2 6125 4631 R.G. MENZIES LIBRARY BUILDING NO:2 FACSIMILE: +61 2 6125 4063 THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY EMAIL: [email protected] CANBERRA ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA USE OF THESES This copy is supplied for purposes of private study and research only. Passages from the thesis may not be copied or closely paraphrased without the written consent of the author. SOCIETY AGAINST THE STATE : PERSPECTIVES ON THE HISTORY OF EARLY ANDHRA PRADESH by Amareswar Galla Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Australian National University. December, 1982. LIBRARY This thesis is my own work. December, 1982. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements iv Note of Prakrit Words iv Abstract , v List of Maps and Charts vi Abbreviations vii - viii Ch. I. Introduction pp. 1-7 Ch. II. Intensification of Agriculture pp. 8-51 Ch.III. Long Distance Trade and Commerce pp. 52-108 Ch. IV. The Nature of Urbanism. pp. 109-141 Ch. V. Religious Undercurrents pp. 142-166 Ch. VI. Society Against the State pp. 168-216 Bibliography pp. 217-235 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Among the many people who have contributed to the process of this thesis, I would like to thank the following. The names are given alphabetically. Dr. F.R. Allchin, Professor A.L. Basham, Margaret Burns, Mr. K.A. Cowan, Indrani Ganguly, Dr. J.T.F. Jordens, Dr. D.H. Kelly, Maureen Kingshott and Professor Romila Thapar. NOTE ON PRAKRIT WORDS Following Trautmann's example (see bibliography), I have not Sanskritised the names occurring in the inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh. This is to prevent any important linguistic details from being obscured or misrepresented. V ABSTRACT In most historical literature the conceptual 'state' has become a yardstick for measuring the degree of civilization achieved by any society. Such a Eurocentric notion has often precluded the understanding of local processes of power. This thesis is an attempt to study such processes in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh between the third century B.C. and mid­ fourth century A.D. The research has shown that one of the most advanced cultures of early India in fact resisted any of the conditions that could be used to define a state apparatus. The discussion begins with the study of the process of intensification of agriculture and the development of long­ distance trading networks. This is followed by an attempt to understand the nature of urbanism. Then the religious under­ currents that characterized the culture of early Andhra are discussed. The final chapter deals with the articulation of the local power structure which was characterized by a complicated strategy of marriage forging and the circulation of prestige goods in the hierarchy of the ruling groups. The thesis not only shows the importance of regional history, but also the advantage of adopting a sceptical attitude towards the current stereotypical notions about early India. It could only make research work even more challenging. V» LIST OF MAPS AND CHARTS Map I ) ) Relief and mean annual rainfall, Andhra Pradesh. p.3 ) Map II ) ) Districts and district headquarters. p.4 ) Map III ) ) Archaeological sites in Andhra Pradesh, B.C. 300- p•12 ) 300 A.D. Map IV Distribution of early historical coins, Andhra Pradesh, p.70 Map V Trade Routes in early Andhra Pradesh p .94 Map VI Archaeological sites - Nagarjunakonda p . 122 Map VII Nagarjunakonda: the citadel and the adjacent habitational p.125 area. Map VIII ) ) Early Historical Andhra Pradesh. p.194 ) Chart I ) Availability of raw material for Beads and Ornaments ) in Andhra Pradesh, p. 55 ) Chart II ) Distribution of Early Historical Coins in Andhra Pradesh ) pp.71-73 ) vn ABBREVIATIONS A.B.O.R.I. Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona. A.I. Ancient India, New Delhi. A.R. A.S.I. Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India. A.R.I.E. Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy. A.S.M.G.M. Amaravati Sculptures in the Madras Government Museum, C. Sivaramamurti. C.I.I. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum. E.H.A.C. Early History of the Andhra Country, K. Gopalacari. E.I. Epigraphia Indica. I.A. Indian Antiquary. I.A.A.R. Indian Archaeology - A Review, New Delhi. I.E.S.H.R. The Indian Social and Economic History Review, New Delhi. I.H.Q. Indian Historical Quarterly, Calcutta. I.H.R. Indian Historical Review, New Delhi. I.S.S.J. International Social Sciences Journal, Paris. J.A.H.R.S. Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society, Rajamundry - Hyderabad. J.A.I.H. Journal of Ancient Indian History, Calcutta. J.E.S.E.O. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. J.I.H. Journal of Indian History, Trivendrum. J.M.B.R.A.S. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. LUders List A List of Brahrat inscriptions, H. LUders, Berlin. M.A.R. Madras Archaeological Report. Mbh. Mahabharata. Periplus The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (ed.) W.H Schoff. Pliny Naturalis Historia. Ptolemy Ancient India as Described by Ptolemy, (ed.) S.N. Majumdar Sastri. 5.1.E. Studies in Indian Epigraphy, Mysore. 5.1.M.B. South Indian 'Megalithic* Burials, L.S. Leshnik. S.S.L.D. Successors of the Satavahanas in the Lower Deccan, D.C. Sircar. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This is an account of a region in the south of India inhabited by more than fifty million people. The beginnings of the history of this area have already been studied with reference to the rise and fall of various kings and dynasties, especially the later Satavahanas and Ik§vakus.^ Such an interest was endemic to the nature of the prevailing historical writing in the sub-continent and the atmosphere of Indian nationalism in the early half of the present century. We know, therefore, of the great Satavahana rulers who issued the first dynastic coinage of Andhra Pradesh, and the impressive achievements of the Ik§vakus accomplished in a span of about a hundred years. But what do we know of the agrarian situation under these rulers? How did they manipulate the political and social situations so as to attain and maintain their dominant position? Since these questions have been peripheral to the studies of earlier scholars, we may address ourselves to finding out some of the answers. The conclusions will be tentative, and at times the reconstruction will depend on the cultural experience of having lived in the area and been brought up in the local traditions. Thus, in an anthropological sense, it is an attempt to provide an 'emic' as well as an ’etic' interpretation of the data. 1 See for instance, D.C. Sircar, S.S.L.D.; K. Gopalacari, E.H.A.C.; B.V. Krishna Rao, A History of the Early Dynasties of Andhradesa3 Madras, 19^2. More recently, M. Rama Rao, Studies in the Early History of Andhradesa3 Madras, 1971. For other references, see the bibliography at the end. 2 Andhra Pradesh, located between 12° 27* and 19° 54’ N latitude, has a tropical climate. (2 While the variations in relief hardly account for any significant differences in temperature, they have important bearing on the distribution of rainfall. The drainage pattern is marked by two perennial rivers, the Krishna and the Godavari, and a number of smaller rivers and streams. The lower basins of the rivers are very fertile as compared to the inland black (3 and red soils. The Panduhal sites not only abound in the levees of the lower Krishna basin: they are widespread also in the drier (4 inland districts. It was the former which became the early nucleus of agricultural intensification. The thesis, while aiming mainly at the lower Krishna valley, focuses also on the surrounding districts. What we have attempted here is to discover the regional processes that led to the evolution of various socio-economic structures. For the purpose of this study, all the available source material has been taken into consideration.^ In the earlier historical works on Andhra, the evidence from literary sources has been discussed in detail, especially in the reconstruc­ tion of the dynastic history. For instance, PurZtnas, however defective, are quite crucial in the reconstruction of the chronology 2 For a detailed description of the climate and physical features of the state, see S.M. Alam (ed.), Planning Atlas of Andhra Pradeshs Hyderabad, 197^; O.H.K. Spate and A.K. Learmonth, India and Pakistan: A General and Regional Geography, 3rd ed., London, 1967; See also Map I. Since the spatial distribution of the evidence discussed in the thesis has been emphasized, a Map (il) of the various districts of Andhra Pradesh has been included for ease of reference. 3 See below, pp. £-7. U Map III. 5 See the bibliography at the end. Unnecessary description of the source material has been avoided. The most recent publications have not been consulted since these are not available to me. A.N.U. libraries hold mostly North Indian acquisitions, and relatively few books on the south. Relief and mean annual rainfall, Andhra Pradesh Map I Districts and district headquarters, Andhra Pradesh Map II 5 of the Satavahana rulers. In the present study, literary sources have been utilized wherever relevant. The principal source material for the discussion has been archaeological. In this category we have a large corpus of donative inscriptions, the majority of which come from two important centres, ( 6 Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda. The majority of these are associated with religious establishments. They provide some valuable data for understanding the functioning of the contemporary society and the political, economic and social structures. Since one of the aims of the thesis is to understand these structures, religion itself has been taken into consideration only to the extent that it was an important ideological undercurrent.