Directorate of Distance Education UNIVERSITY OF JAMMU JAMMU SELF LEARNING MATERIAL B. A. SEMESTER - I SUBJECT : HISTORY Units I-IV COURSE No. : HT-101 Lesson No. 1-19 Stazin Shakya Course Co-ordinator http:/www.distanceeducation.in Printed and published on behalf of the Directorate of Distance Education, University of Jammu, Jammu by the Director, DDE, University of Jammu, Jammu ANCIENT INDIA COURSE No. : HT - 101 Course Contributors : Content Editing and Proof Reading : Dr. Hina S. Abrol Dr. Hina S. Abrol Prof. Neelu Gupta Mr. Kamal Kishore Ms. Jagmeet Kour c Directorate of Distance Education, University of Jammu, Jammu, 2019 • All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission in writing from the DDE, University of Jammu. • The script writer shall be responsible for the lesson/script submitted to the DDE and any plagiarism shall be his/her entire responsibility. Printed at :- Pathania Printers /19/ SYLLABUS B.A. Semester - I Course No. : HT - 101 TITLE : ANCIENT INDIA Unit-I i. Survey of literature - Vedas to Upanishads. ii. Social Life in Early & Later Vedic Age. iii. Economic Life in Early & Later Vedic Age. iv. Religious Life in Early & Later Vedic Age. Unii-II i. Life and Teachings of Mahavira. ii. Development of Jainism after Mahavira. iii. Life and Teachings of Buddha. iv. Development of Buddhism : Four Buddhist Councils and Mahayana Sect. Unit-III i. Origin and Sources of Mauryas. ii. Administration of Mauryas. iii. Kalinga War and Policy of Dhamma Vijaya of Ashoka. iv. Causes of Downfall of the Mauryas. v. Pushyamitra Sunga. vi. Kushans : Conquests and Cultural Contribution with special reference to Kanishka. Unit-IV i Origin and Sources of Guptas. ii. Expansion of Guptas under Samudra Gupta and Chandra Gupta. iii. Causes of downfall of Guptas. iv. Harshavardhan's Administration. Note for Paper Setting : The question paper will contain two questions from each Unit (Total Eight (i) questions) and the candidates will be required to answer one question from each Unit (Total questions to be attempted, will be four) i.e., there will be internal choice within the Unit. Internal Assessment (Total Marks : 20) BIBLIOGRAPHY : 1. Romila Thappar : Early India from the origins to A.D. 1300, Penguin Books. 2. D. N. Jha : Ancient India in Historical Outline, Manohar Publisher 3. Bhartiya Vidhya Bhavan Series : Vol. - I : The Vedic Age. Vol. - II : The Age of Imperial Unity. Vol.- III : The Classical Age. 4. Majumdar : The Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass. 5. D. Devahuti : Harsha-A Political Study, Oxford Press. 6. Dr. Baijanath Sharma : Harsha and His Times, Sushma Prakashan Varanasi. 7. Irfan Habib and V. K. Thakur - The Vedic Age. 8. Irfan Habib and V.Jha - The Mauryuan India. 9. A. L. Bashan - Wonder that was India. (ii) Table of Contents PAGE TITLE OF THE LESSON AUTHOR NO. UNIT-I 1. Survey of Literature - Vedas to Upanishad 1 Dr. Hina S. Abrol 2. Social Life in early & later Vedic Age 10 Dr. Hina S. Abrol 3. Economic Life in early & later Vedic Age 19 Dr. Hina S. Abrol 4. Religious Life in early & later Vedic Age 27 Dr. Hina S. Abrol UNIT-II 5. Life and Teachings of Mahavira 37 Mr. Kamal Kishore 6. Development of Jainism After Mahavira 47 Mr. Kamal Kishore 7. Life and Teachings of Buddha 53 Mr. Kamal Kishore 8. Development of Buddhism : Four Buddhist 60 Mr. Kamal Kishore Councils and Mahayana Sect UNIT-III 9. Origin and Sources of the Mauryas 66 Dr. Hina S. Abrol Ms. Jagmeet Kour 10. Administration of Mauryas 82 Dr. Hina S. Abrol 11. Kalinga War and Policy of Dhamma Vijay 92 Ms. Jagmeet Kour of Ashoka Dr. Hina S. Abrol 12. Causes of the Downfall of the Mauryas 100 Ms. Jagmeet Kour 13. Pushyamitra Sunga (184 B.C. - 148 B.C.) 110 Prof. Neelu Gupta 14. Kushans : Kanishka's Conquests 120 Dr. Hina S. Abrol 15. Cultural Contribution of Kushanas with 126 Dr. Hina S. Abrol special reference to Kanishka UNIT-IV 16. Origin and Sources of the Guptas 132 Dr. Hina S. Abrol Prof. Neelu Gupta 17. Expansion of Guptas under Samudragupta and 144 Prof. Neelu Gupta Chandragupta - II 18. Causes of Downfall of the Guptas 159 Dr. Hina S. Abrol 19. Harshavardhana's Administration 165 Prof. Neelu Gupta (iii) UNIT-I Lesson No. 1 SURVEY OF LITERATURE - VEDAS TO UPANISHAD Dr. Hina S. Abrol 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Objectives 1.3 The four Samhitas 1.3.1 The Rig Veda 1.3.2 The Sama Veda 1.3.3 The Yajur Veda 1.3.4 The Atharva Veda 1.4 The Brahmanas 1.5 The Aranyakas 1.6 The Upanishads 1.7 Let us sum up 1.8 Glossary 1.9 Self assessment questions 1.10 Suggested Readings 1.1 Introduction The Vedic Age occupies a very prominent place in ancient Indian history. It is that 1 age during which the Vedas, i.e. texts related to early Indo-Aryan religion were composed. Chronologically, its early phase overlaps with the late Harappan period and its late phase with the rise of the Mahajanapadas. The associated culture, sometimes referred to as Vedic civilization was centered in the northern and north western parts of the Indian sub– continent. The Vedic age laid the foundation of the Hindu religious philosophy, the related spiritual speculations, societal norms, customs and traditions. 1.2 Objectives The objective of the lesson is to enable you to understand the Vedic age through the survey of literature of both of its early and late phases. You should know the content of the four Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads. 1.3 The four Samhitas The chief constituents of Vedic literature are the four collections of sacred hymns called the samhitas or the Vedas. They are the Rigveda, the Samaveda, Yajurveda and the Atharaveda. These Vedas were composed by the Indo-Aryans who had migrated from the north west to the area called Sapta Sindhava, the land of seven rivers. The generally accepted view is that the seven rivers are the Indus, its five tributaries and the Saraswati (Sursuti in modern Haryana, which has now disappeared). 1.3.1 The Rigveda The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is the earliest among the four canonical sacred texts (shruti) of Hinduism known as Vedas. Philological and linguistic evidence indicate that the Rigveda was composed in the north western region of the Indian subcontinent, roughly between 1700 – 1100 B.C. The major Rigveda shakha, branch i.e. recension, that has survived is that of Shakalya. Another Shakha that may have survived is the Baskala, although this is uncertain. The surviving padapatha version of Rigveda text is ascribed to Shakalya. The Shakala recension has 1,017 regular hymns and an appendix of 11Valakhilya hymns which are now customarily included in the eighth mandala, for a total of 1028 hymns. The Rigveda is organized in 10 books, known as Mandalas, of varying age and length. The “family books” mandalas 2 to 7 are the oldest part of the Rigveda and the shortest books. The eighth and ninth mandalas comprise hymns of mixed age. The first 2 and the tenth mandalas are the youngest as well as the longest books. Each mandala consists of hymns called sukta which are intended for various sacrificial rituals. The suktas in turn consists of individual stanzas called rcas, which are further analyzed into units of verse called pada. The Rigvedic hymns are dedicated to various deities, chief of whom are Indra, a heroic god praised for having slain his enemy Vrtra, Agni, the sacrificial fire and Soma, the sacred potion or the plant it is made from. Equally prominent goods are the Adityas or Asura gods Mitra, Varuna and Ushas, the dawn. Also invoked are Savitr, Vishnu, Rudra, Pushan, Brihaspati as well as deified natural phenomena such as Dyaus Pita, the Shining Sky, Father Heaven, Prithivi, the Mother Earth, Surya, the Sun god, Vayu, the Wind, Apas, the Waters, Parjanya, the thunder and rain, Vac, the Word, many rivers, notably the Sapta Sindhu and the Saraswati Rivers. The Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Sadhyas, Ashvins, Maruts, Rbhus and the Vishvadevas, all gods as well as “the thirty three gods” are the groups of deities mentioned. The Rigvedic hymn's mention various further minor gods, persons, phenomena and items and also contain fragmentary references to possible historical events, such as the struggle between the Vedic Aryans and their enemies, the Dasa or Dasyu. The hymns of the Rigveda give us a valuable deep insight into the political, socio- economic and religious life of the people of the early Vedic age. The tenth mandala of this text contains the Purusha sukta hymn, which for the first time describes the chatur varna system prevalent at that time. Here, varna indicated the Aryan colour. 1.3.2 The Sama Veda The literal meaning of Sama Veda is ‘wisdom of the chants.’ It is second of the four Vedas. Its earliest parts are believed to date from 1000 B.C and it ranks next in sanctity to the Rigveda. The Sama Veda is a collection of melodies ‘saman’ and is better known for the intricacy and metre of its poetry than for its literary content. Almost all but seventy five are taken from the Rigveda. These hymns are to be sung, using specifically indicated melodies called Samagana, by udgatar priests at sacrifices in which the juice of the soma plant, clarified and mixed with milk and other ingredients, is offered in libation to various deities. The Sama Veda gives precise instructions on how its verses should be sung.