UNIT 1 HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE PRE-COLONIAL ECONOMY – ANCIENT Structure 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Ideas and Economy 1.3 Pre-1950s Historiographical Trends 1.4 The New Historiography 1.5 Recent Researches 1.6 Summary 1.7 Exercises 1.8 Suggested Readings 1.1 INTRODUCTION The last forty years have witnessed numerous publications on the economic history of early India, on themes ranging from landownership, revenue system and rural settlements to urbanisation, crafts, money and trade. This heightened interest in the study of early Indian economy has been the result of the shift in focus from political or dynastic history towards an understanding of material culture and economic life. Though there were earlier efforts in this direction the decisive shift came only with the influential writings of D.D. Kosambi and R.S. Sharma in the 1950s and 1960s. In their writings they began to explain change with reference to environment, technology and economic life. Ancient or early India came to be visualized not as a static epoch, but in terms of stages in relation to the dominant social and economic patterns prevailing during the various periods. Early India is broadly divided into two phases i.e., the early historical and the early medieval. While the first extends up to and includes the Gupta period, the second covers the succeeding six to seven centuries. Within these two phases a number of other stages have also been worked out. To elaborate, while the Age of the Buddha is seen to have been characterized by peasant production and urbanisation, the Mauryan period is perceived to have been marked by state control of the economy. Between the middle of the twentieth century and now, there have been changes in the ways of seeing and explaining the economic history of early India. Perspectives tend to vary depending on the kind of questions historians ask, the range of sources they use and the methods they adopt. Conventionally the Mauryan economy, deriving from the Arthashastra, has been characterized in terms of centralized state control over all sectors of the economy. However, recent research, by moving away from traditional treatment of the sources and looking at the regional material cultures brought to light by archaeology, has modified our understanding. Archaeology has revealed the coexistence and interaction of cultures at different levels of technological and social development. Prosperity during the said period was spread largely over Gangetic northern India and its fringes. It is being increasingly recognized that empires by their very nature accommodated varied social formations and differentiated spaces, accounting for the uneven depth of administration across regions. Similarly, the post- 7 Historiography, Environment Mauryan centuries instead of being identified only with urban growth, networks of and Economy trade and money economy are also beginning to be understood in terms of different stages of state formation and agrarian expansion in regions outside the Ganga valley. 1.2 IDEAS AND ECONOMY Before discussing other aspects related to the theme it is necessary to briefly dwell on economic ideas inherent in our sources. It is necessary to mention that here we are concerned with the ideas of economy, as distinguished from economic thought, available in texts. We may proceed by citing some examples. In the middle of the first millennium B.C. we come across numerous crops and cereals such as barley, wheat, rice, sesamum, mustard, lentils, sugarcane, banana and mangoes in Sanskrit and Pali literature. Similarly, the spread of plough cultivation, paddy transplantation and knowledge of varieties of rice, with sali being a generic term, is attested. While kedara means a prepared plot, terms like ropana and ropeti are related to transplantation. These activities together with the demarcation of village space into khetta (cultivable land), ushara (waste land) and gocara (grazing units) unmistakably suggest the increasing importance and preoccupation with land and agriculture in the said period. The fields, it is said, appeared like the robe of a monk, clearly indicating their uneven, differentiated, patch-work pattern. The description of cattle in the Suttanipata, an early Pali text, as annada (giver of food), vannada (giver of beauty) and sukhada (giver of happiness) again demonstrates the importance of cattle in a situation dominated by peasant units of production. Like the visible frequency of terms related to the root word go (cattle) in the Rig Vedic period, when pastoralism was important, the changed economic conditions in the Age of the Buddha are reflected in the above mentioned references to crops, types of land and agricultural operations. In the Arthashastra the section dealing with the settlement of villages (janapada- nivesha) brings out the importance of rural settlements and agriculture as the basis of the revenue of the state. The text preferred the habitation of shudras in newly founded agrarian settlements or the rehabilitated decaying ones, largely because they were capable of hard work and amenable to exploitation. In newly settled areas peasants were allowed tax remissions and state help in terms of the supply of seeds, money and cattle. These were intended to bring virgin land under cultivation and extend the orbit of revenue collection for the state. Similarly, farmers were not allowed to keep their plots unused. Royal control of non-agricultural production, including mining and metallurgy, and trade is envisaged in the text with a view to maximizing revenue. The relationship between mines and metals, the treasury and the consolidation and expansion of state power is clearly brought out in the Arthashastra. The Milinda-panho and Manusmriti, dating to the post-Mauryan centuries, suggest that the field belonged to him who cleared it of the forest cover and made it fit for cultivation. Such allusions reflect on the question of land-ownership and provide insights into the phased history of agrarian expansion. Post-Mauryan texts provide information about a large number of occupations and workers, with implications for craft production, specialisation and trade. The said period was marked by varieties of guilds, including those of craftsmen and merchants, and long- distance inter-regional and maritime trade. Inscriptions at Mathura, Sanchi and such other places mentioning the names and occupations of the donors bear testimony to their economic competence and the prosperity of the regions they represent. Coins in gold, silver, copper and even lead and potin issued by several dynasties and gana-samghas during this period bear testimony to the extent and depth of 8 monetisation of society. It ties up well with the contemporary history of towns and Historiography of the trade. The importance of categories such as peasants, artisans and merchants, and Pre-Colonial Economy – their requirements, is highlighted in the sources from the Age of the Buddha onwards. Ancient With the coming of the Guptas and beyond land grant inscriptions become the major source of information for the writing of economic history. The remissions to the donee or donees suggest the possible sources of revenue. On the basis of the preponderance of agriculture-related terms in such records, among other reasons, it is argued that the Gupta and post-Gupta periods witnessed the decline of trade, decay of towns and paucity of metallic money. This is a much debated theme to which we shall return later. That all land grants were not made in virgin territories nor were they in all cases meant to extend the area under cultivation is obvious from the evidence in the records. In the context of the demarcation of the donated space reference to natural boundaries like anthills, rivers and forests, instead of neighbouring plots or settlements, would suggest sparse settlements or an early stage in the history of the area. Similarly, varying references to the addresses of the grants are also replete with possibilities for rural society. Inscriptions also provide information on types of settlements and their constituents, indicating differentiation and immense variety rather than all of them being alike. References to plants and crops like jamun, mango, cotton, paddy, oil seeds, etc. have implications for the history of agriculture and environment. Contemporary works like Harshacarita furnish evidence of the agrarian prosperity of Shrikantha and contrast it with the forest and forest life in the Vindhyas, in the wider context of narrating the story of Harsha. The incidental yet vivid description of the two regions and the contrasting economic pursuits are a delight for the historian. 1.3 PRE-1950s HISTORIOGRAPHICAL TRENDS Ancient Indian economic history up to the middle of the twentieth century was largely dependent on incidental references in literary texts. U.N. Ghoshal’s Agrarian System of Northern India and A.N. Bose’s Social and Rural Economy of Northern India (c. 600 B.C. - A.D. 200), for example, are essentially based on textual material, despite the use of inscriptional data. Most works of this variety brought together factual details from different sources, cutting across time and space. It made it difficult to work out processes of change with regard to any institution. The analysis and explanation of economic life and institutions within incorporative concepts were unknown. Perspectives on early India have undergone significant changes from the middle of the 1950s and since then economic history, with bearings on society and polity, has occupied centre stage. From being a matter of marginal concern, economic history came to occupy an important position. Early India instead of being seen as a period dominated by numerous dynasties and their wars came to be perceived in terms of socio-economic stages. Explanations of change, including prosperity and decline, centering around political authority made way for another kind of analysis. Whether the Harappans had a plough or not or the Vedic people had access to iron or not or why it was that the rise of Magadha, emergence of urban centers and ‘heterodox’ sects happened to coincide in the middle of the first millennium B.C.