Pter - 4 : Hinterland Sites 73
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PTER - 4 : HINTERLAND SITES 73 Chapter - 4 Hinterland Sites Settlements The classification of settlements can be made according to the geographic factors and the function of the site. The important sites of human settlements and trade-routes are generally located near contact points of hills and plain, and ridgeways Similarly market towns develop along the lines of relief features. In Western Maharashtra important emporiums and markets of great prominence flourished in the belt of fertile plains. Ter, Paithan, Nasik, Junnar, Nevasa, Brahmapuri, Karhad became important emporia of trade, connected by caravan routes The dependence of Junnar on the tradelink with coast is substantiated by the fact that it was the silting of Sopara as a port settlement and abandonment of Buddhist monastic establishments, the largest of these being at Kanheri in the vicinity of Kalyan and 60 kms from Chaul. Probably these factors necessary for a gainful overseas trade provided an impetus to Maharashtra in initiating and also in continuing trade relations with foieign countries throughout the ancient period. Unlike the port or passes the hinterland sites were primarily settlements and due to the surplus of agricultural produce carried out trade activities. Beyond this there were almost certainly specific factors which triggered off change in individual circumstances. Once the process of city formation was set in, there follows a series of complementary developments, including an expansion of the site hierarchy to include a new tier of larger settlements at its apex; craft specialization etc.; an increase in craft production of all kinds; evidence of greatly increased trading activity, often over long distances; and the emergence of a new political and economic system, an appropriate, accompanying ideology. Unlike the other two categories, where trade is the most important function, hinterland sites had many additional functions. These settlements were not the out come of trade but initiators of trade. These sites are crucial as they both supplied the majority of trade goods and formed the markets for the imports. In contrast to the geographical inaccessibility of the western ghats, plain on the eastern side is dominated by major river systems with corresponding broad river plains, which are relatively flat, fertile, and 74 extremely productive agriculturally These river plains were conclusive to the development of centers by those seeking to cultivate wheat etc. in the rich soil of the plains The plain trade centers also proved easier to dominate politically than the more diffused centers of the western ghats. The great political systems of the past all had a geographical base in a fertile plain, for example, the rulers of western Maharashtra had their capitals at Paithan and Junnar Habitational Sites and Trade Routes In the Desh region eventhough the trade was seasonal these settlements were permanent. As these settlements were permanent the sites for settlement was chosen carefully. As far as settlements are concerned locational decision are taken, in general, so as to minimise the frictional efforts of distance. Movement costs human beings effort. For instance, settlements are not normally sited at any great distance from the arable land supporting them. All locations are endowed with a degree of accessibility but some locations are accessible than others Accessibility implies the 'ease of getting to a place' but once again this is never constant, the passing of a new route generated accessibility where none existed before There is a tendency for human activities to agglomerate to take advantage of scale economies. By scale economies is meant the saving of costs of operation made possible by concentrating activities at common locations. As a nucleated community, sharing the agricultural work, can prove a more effective way of sustaining output. Craftsmen serving a nucleated community, as their skill increases, gain advantages from concentrating where there is a larger market. The fundamental linkages between individual places, settlement and the land beneath are to be found in the ideas of site, i. e., the area of land upon which a habitation is placed, and situation, i.e., the broader locational context of this site, where it is relative to the surrounding terrain: Important qualities which can affect the choice of site are aspect, shelter, flat land, free drainage, water supply, and local accessibility. The relative 75 importance of these varies from settlement to settlement and from region to region; thus those factors dominant in an area of plain land will differ greatly from those pursued in a mountainous region The ideas expressed by these key words describing qualities intrinsic to settlement sites remain useful and do form a basic currency of use when considering sites. The basic requirement for the development of any settlement is hospitable environment with a permanent source of water, combined with the necessary technology and agricultural skills to produce adequate supplies of food, etc. For this purpose the sites were located within the meander of the river for example, the site of Paithan As the rivers in the Desh region were not perennial, settlements had to be located at the place where there was water through out the year. In this Desh region the rivers acted as the barriers between the different river valleys and similarly like passes these were crossed at the fording places where the settlements are located. The dike formation in the rivers were the fords where the settlements are located for eg. Prakashe and Thalner in the Tapi river basin. For example, the port settlements are orientated towards rivers, lakes or coasts In Western part of Maharashtra the industrial sites manufacturing beads etc. are located on the slopes of the Deccan plateau which is the source of raw material. The sites can be homogeneous in character or diverse, but it will generally be located with that area of land from which the settlement's population must win a living, its situation Sites were selected not only for their intrinsic abilities but to gain access to the key economic resources which lay outside the site itself, extrinsic qualities, i.e. access to arable woodland, fuel and building materials, local and extra-regional communications, sea lake and river. This involved a complex set of evaluations, and every settlement site represents a complex interplay of all factors. Figure 10 is a remarkable idealized map. This version is slightly generalized, but it is derived from a study which shows the physical sites of all the trading centers of Western Maharashtra. Historical security in a region often troubled by the passage of armies, coastal piracy and local warfare has stimulated the concentrated occupation of hill top and spur top sites. There is a broad responses of settlement to terrain contrasts. It is often the 76 junction between hills and plains that emerge as zones attractive to settlement because of the environmental contrasts present The settlements of the small area are concentrated on a free soils appearing on the waning slopes between uplands and plain, sites which also allow easy access to other landscape types. The habitation corresponds almost exactly with the level of reliability of rainfall in the dry season and conversely the lowest percentage of its annual rainfall in the wet- season. A reliable water supply may be a crucial factor permitting the presence of larger settlements. Maharashtra although drained by the rivers, along with their tributaries, played an important role in the progress of trade. It was within the valleys of these rivers chief kingdoms, the important trade centers, the industrial belt, which helped the progress of trade were founded The physical factors can be important in understanding the habitational sites but they are never free of other, often more powerful, cultural influences, deriving from the character of human societies While looking for patterning both within and amongst habitation centers geomorphology provides some insight into how things are organized spatially. The location of a town can be explained in relation to its position at the lowest bridging point and head of navigation on a river, or as a sprinkling settlement established at an assured supply of fresh water. The trade centers from Western part of Maharashtra have been divided in the following table on their physical basis. Table 4.1 SITES SITUATED ON THE DIFFERENT LANDSCAPES Main River Foothill Meander Confluence Tributary 'ITialner (Tapi) Jimnar Prakashe (Tapi) Bahal (Giraa-Tapi) Nasik(Godavan) Paithan (Godavari) Karhad (Krishna) Bhokardan (Kelna-Godavari) Pitalkhora Nevasa (Pravara-( jodavari) Karhad Brahmapuri (Panchaganga-Kiishna) Brahmapuri Ter (Tenia- Krishna) Vadraphalva Vadraphalva (Dudhganga-Narmada) Roads and communications were built to facilitate easy movement of goods and further exchange of commodities. This early historic period also witnessed large scale- clearance of forest which brought more land under cultivation raising agricultural 77 production and thereby more revenue in return, since land revenue remained the main stay of state income in the agricultural economy. Moreover excavations at a number of sites reveal the development and further growth of cities and towns in Western India. Some of them were mere centers of trauc and commerce while other were agricultural villages catering to the needs of the urban people A few other towns were industrial centers which produced various objects of everyday use As far as Maharashtra is concerned we are rather fortunate to have a number of habitational centers, inland emporiums, industrial centers as well as port-towns, on the main trade-routes. More and more trade centres kept emerging on the trade routes. The literary sources such as the Mahabharata, Ramamyana, the Buddhist and Jain literature, Prakrit works such as Vasudevahimdi and several other works of the later period, such as (kUhasaptasati of Hala, Kathasarilasagar of Somadeva and Leelavati of Kauhala throw light on the trade activities. These evidences are corroborated by foreign accounts like Periplus and Ptolemy, Cosmos, Al-Baruni etc.