Social Formation in Early India
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UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION THIRD SEMESTER M.A. HISTORY PAPER- IV SOCIAL FORMATION IN EARLY INDIA (2008 Admission onwards) Prepared by Dr.N.PADMANABHAN Reader P.G.Department of History C.A.S.College, Madayi P.O.Payangadi-RS-670358 Dt.Kannur-Kerala. 1 CHAPTERS CONTENTS PAGES 1 PRE-AND PROTO HISTORIC LEGACY 03-172 11 THE VEDIC SOCIETY 172-186 111 LATER VEDIC SITUATION 187-201 1V DISSENT, PROTEST AND REFORM 201-221 V THE SUBCONTINENTAL REACHE 221-282 2 CHAPTER-1 PRE-AND PROTO HISTORIC LEGACY PHYSIOGRAPHIC FEATURES. India is a vast country well marked off from the rest of Asia by its mountain wall on the north, north-east, and north-west, and the sea on the remaining sides.Roughly speaking; the territory comprised within it is about 2,500 miles from east to west and 2,000 miles from north to south, with an approximate area of 1,800,000 sq. miles. It has 6,000 miles of land frontier and 5,000 miles of sea-frontier. Looking broadly at the physical features of the country we can easily distinguish three main parts, viz. (1) the great mountain wall; (2) the great lowland plain of Hindustan; and (3) the great Deccan plateau. 1. The Great Mountain Wall. The Himalayas which run in a south-east curve all along the northern front of India, and separate it from the plateau of Tibet, include several parallel ranges of lofty mountains, with deep valleys between them. They cover a region about 1,500 miles long and 150 to 200 miles in breadth. The Himalayas contain altogether about 114 peaks of over 20,000 feet, of which 75 exceed 24,000 feet.The best known are Everest or Gauri Sankar (29,140 feet), the highest mountain in the world, Kanchanjangha (28,176 feet), Dhaulagiri (26,826 feet), Nanga Parbat (26, 620 feet) and Nanda Devi (25,661 feet).The Hindu Kush mountains which run from the Pamirs in a south-westerly direction may be considered as the natural boundary of India in the north-west, though considerable portions of the hilly regions to the south and east are now included in 3 Afghanistan.Further, south, the Safed Koh, Sulaiman and Khirthar mountains are now generally regarded as the north-western boundary of India, separating it from the Table land of Iran.But large stretches of land to the west of this line in modern Afghanistan and Baluchistan, like those to the south and east of the Hindu Kush, were for long both culturally and politically parts of India. Running roughly southwards from the eastern end of the Himalayas are a series of ranges which form the mountain wall separating India from Burma.In the north are the Patkoi Hills which broaden into the Naga Hills and the Manipur Plateau and send out a branch westwards forming the Khasi, Garo and Jaintia hills.South of Manipur are the Lushai and Chin Hills, which narrow into a long single range, the Arakan Yoma, which reaches the sea at Cape Negrais.These mountainous regions contain some high plateaus and valleys. Beginning from the west we have the plateaus of Baluchistan and Afghanistan which may be regarded as the continuation of the great plateau of Iran.In these and the neighbouring hilly regions there are many secluded valleys which have been the home of sturdy tribes from time immemorial.They converted their high hills into so many impregnable citadels and maintained their independence even against powerful foes.The detailed accounts which we possess of the brave resistance which these small communities put up against such world-conquerors as Alexander or the Arabs form a brilliant chapter in the heroic annals of India. Coming next to the Himalayan region we have the famous Kashmir Plateau, one of the most beautiful in the whole world. The green valley, at an elevation of 6,000 feet, is about 80 miles long and 25 miles broad. It is watered by the Jhelum River and is surrounded by snowy mountains 18,000 feet high. It has been justly considered as “the earthly 4 paradise”.Further east lies Nepal, stretching for 500 miles along the Himalayan region proper, which is above 5,000 feet and the sub- Himalayan region below that height.The latter may again be sub-divided into two parts.The part near the Gangetic plain, known as the Terai, is very low and covered with marshes and coarse tall grass.The part near the mountains is covered with forest.Both are damp and unhealthy.The Nepal valley proper covers a small area round its capital Katmandu.It lies between the basins of the Gandak and Kosi and is watered by the Baghmati River.It is a rich fertile plain surrounded by high hills and although only about 25 miles long and 14 miles wide, nearly a quarter of all the inhabitants of Nepal live in this valley.The hilly regions of the east contain the plateau on which Shillong is situated.It juts westward from the main hills and separates the valley of the Brahmaputra on the north from that of the Surma on the south.The main hill ranges running north to south contain small plains like those of Manipur. The plateaus mentioned above have been, generally speaking, detached from the currents of life in the country proper. The history of Kashmir, Nepal, and Assam forms, therefore, almost isolated chapters in the history of India, and only very rarely comes into contact with it. Afghanistan, being on the main highway between India and the world outside, has however, played a more important part than would otherwise have been the case. The mountains form an admirable defensive rampart of India against invasion by land. The Himalayas present a formidable barrier to an army, though small bodies of traders and missionaries can pass over it through difficult routes. The mountains in the north-east, though not an equally effective barrier, have for all practical purposes served India well. They are so steep and so densely forest-covered that to cross them is a task of 5 abnormal difficulty, and no considerable body of foreigners is know to have passed through this route to the interior of the Country.The Mountains in the north-west, however, have proved to be more vulnerable. There are several passes across the Hindu Kush and along almost all the chief rivers in this region, viz. the Swat and the Chitral running south, and the Kabul, the Kurram, the Tochi and the Gomal, running east to the Indus. But by far the most important route is the one that crosses the Hindu Kush through one of its passes, runs along the Kabul valley, and then descends to Peshawar through the Khyber Pass, a winding and narrow defile about 20 miles long. Another well-known route runs, beyond the fringe of the Afghan mountains, from Heart to Kandahar, and then descends to the Indus valley through the Bolan Pass or the Mula Pass further south.The 3rd well-known route from the west followed the coast-line and reached the Indus valley through the narrow gap between the Khirthar range and the sea.But the inhospitable Makran coast made this route far less frequented than would otherwise have been the case.The 2 routes last mentioned were less important as gateways to India than the first.For just beyond the region where they debouch into the Indian plain stretches the great desert of Rajputana, which bars access to the interior of India.The Khyber route, on the other hand, leads directly across the plains of the Punjab to the interior through the narrow gap between the desert and the mountains.Therefore the northern route has been more frequently used by the foreign invaders of India.This explains the strategical position of the Khyber Pass as the first line of defence, and that of the narrow plains to the west of the Jumna, above Delhi, as the second.Thus although the mountains around India have not definitely shut it off from the rest of Asia, they have made even peaceful 6 communication with the neighbouring countries a difficult process. Further, they have proved an almost insurmountable barrier against foreign invasion except through the Khyber Pass, which has been in all ages the gateway of India, and the key of its security from foreign aggression. The Himalayas have not only served as a great barrier against outside intruders, but have also otherwise contributed to the welfare of India. By protecting her against the cold dry winds from Tibet, and serving as a great screen for the monsoon winds, they have increased the fertility and prosperity of the Indo-Gangetic plains. The numerous rivers fed by the glaciers of the Himalayas have served the same end. Some of these rise behind the Himalayas, in a valley which forms part of the Tableland of Tibet.In the centre of this valley lies the lake Manasasarovara (Manasarowar), and near it rises the lofty mountain Kailasa, both famous in Indian mythology. Close to this spot, at a height of 16,000 feet, are the sources of the Indus and the Brahmaputra which run for a considerable distance, respectively, towards the west and the east, before they skirt round the edge of the Himalayas and take a southern bend to enter into the Indian plains.The great Himalayan ranges are thus held “within the arms of the two mighty rivers whose southern bends form the western and eastern limits of the greatest mountain ranges in the world”. 2. The Plain of Hindustan.