indian history du notesgc le

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LESSON 1
TOWARDS THE EARLY MEDIEVAL (II): CHANGES IN SOCIETYAND
CULTURE
-Vishwa Mohan Jhan
In this lesson, we shall survey the socio-cultural changes that marked the transition to early
medieval India. Our sources for locating these changes remain to some extent the same as those
for discovering political and economic ones, but for the better part they are different. Even when
they remain the same, they have to be analysed differently. At times the links between the two
sets of changes are not difficult to discern, as for example between changes in economic/political
and social statuses, although the paucity or problems of historical data may make it difficult to
establish the relationship. However, the connection is as often not so easily apparent or seems
tenuous at best. In fact, it is not possible in this brief sketch to provide answers to these and
other questions, a good deal of which are either under investigation or under debate (in fact, some
questions that you might ask may not have occurred to the specialists at all!). The purpose here
is to introduce you to the subject matter in simplest terms, and induce you to think critically as
you peruse the other readings in the subject.
SOCIETY
A number of important social changes have been identified in the transition to early medieval
period. These changes are best approached through the composition, character and scope of the
caste system, and the status of women within it. As you know, Jati is the basic unit in the caste
system. People are grouped in endogamous Jatis, i.e. members of a Jati marry within and not
outside their Jati. Often a number of Jatis in an area that are similar to each other in status and
occupation make up a Jati cluster; and these Jatis and Jati clusters form part of one of the four
Varnas - Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. At the bottom of this caste hierarchy, i.e.
Jati-based Varna hierarchy, are the Untouchables, who are placed outside and in an inferior relation
to the fourfold Varna order, although they are also termed as ‘impure Shudras’.
Identifying the nature of caste society and the direction of social changes during our period
demands a careful analysis of the sources. The terms jati and varna are not always used there
in our sense of these categories, and their exact import has to be ascertained each time. A text
by itself may give the impression of a static society, and it is only through a critical collation
of all pieces of relevant information that one is able to see the processes of change.
A comparison of the evidence across our period shows that state society - the society of
kingdoms and empires, which was by and large caste society, as distinct from the non-state,
casteless societies of hunter-gatherers and tribes- was expanding significantly during our period.
First, a considerable number of immigrants from outside the subcontinent, such as the Hunas, the
Gurjaras, etc. were settling down. The Gurjaras, the ancestors of the present Gujar community,
seem to have been particularly widespread in western and northwestern India. In some regions
a gradual transformation of the original structure of Gurjara society was well under way during
our period as at the end of it we see not only the emergence of a small section of them as
rulers (the Gurjara-Pratiharas) but also the rest as humble peasantry. The recognition of the Hunas
as one of the traditional thirty-six Kshatriya clans took a longer time. There were probably other
peoples too. For instance, the Kalachuris who figure as an important political entity and had even

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founded an era called Kalachuri-Chedi Era are supposed to have been such immigrants, and the
term ‘Kalachuri” is interpreted as a derivative of the Turkish title ‘kulchur’
Large parts of India continued to remain covered with forests, in which small, scattered
groups of hunter-gatherers and tribal people practising pastoralism and/or primitive agriculture lived.
For instance, in calling southern Andhra Pradesh a sparsely populated jungle territory infested by
highwaymen, Xuan Zang referred to one such area dominated by aboriginal population, who did
not lead a settled life and for whom plunder was a legitimate source of livelihood. Similarly, for
an extensive country in the northwest, he reports the presence of people who are stated to live
solely by pastoralism, be very warlike, and ‘have no masters, and, whether men or women, have
neither rich nor poor’. Quite a few of the aboriginal groups were in regular touch with the members
of caste society, and vivid descriptions of their lives are recorded, though not without bias, in
contemporary works of literature, such as the Dashakumaracharita of Dandin and the Kadambari
of Banabhatta.
A number of the aboriginal peoples were also being assimilated in the caste society, some
wholly, some in part. For instance, while the name ‘Shabara’ continued to stand for a tribe or
a number of tribes till well after our period, the reference to a Shabara king with a Sanskritic
name, Udayana, in our sources suggests the integration of a section of Shabara people into caste
society. In general, the majority of the members of a tribe were converted into a Jati belonging
to the Shudra Varna (some into an Untouchable caste), while a tribal chief, if he was sufficiently
resourceful, could claim a Kshatriya status for himself and his close kinsmen.
The caste society was also being transformed from within in response to political, economic,
and cultural-ideological changes. An interesting example is the crystallisation of the professionals
called kayastha as a Jati. Kayasthas come into view as important officials from the Gupta period
onwards, and just after our period are seen as a caste. Our sources suggest that they came from
a number of communities, including tribes (especially Karanas) as well as brahmins. The names
of a considerable number of brahmins in’ Bengal in the Gupta and post-Gupta inscriptions end
with suffixes such as Vasu, Ghosha, Datta, Dama, etc., which are today the surnames not of Bengali
brahmins but of Bengali Kayasthas. The absence of these surnames among the brahmins of the
region suggests that it was the case not of people of lower Varnas adopting the surnames of
their superiors in a bid for upward mobility, but one of the formation of a caste through fission
of brahmin and non-brahmin kayastha families from their parent bodies and fusion into a caste
of Kayastha. In other words, the Kayastha caste began to form as the families belonging to this
profession started marrying among themselves and stopped marrying within their own original Jatis
or tribes.
As you know, each Varna was associated with some specific functions; for instance,
priestly functions were considered the preserve of brahmins. Historians have noted a remarkable
change in this matter during the transition, which is registered both in the brahmanical treatises
as well as attested by foreign observers. Agriculture, which was considered earlier generally the
work of the Vaishyas, now comes increasingly to be seen as the occupation of the Shudras.
However, the meaning of this is not easy to understand, or rather is capable of being understood
in at least three different ways. First, this has been interpreted as amounting to a marked
improvement in the status of the Shudras. From being slaves, servants, and agricultural labourers
they now become landholding peasants like the Vaishyas. Second, this may represent the decline
in the status of peasantry as a result of extensive land grants. There was, it is said, such a
downgrading of the Vaishya peasants that they were considered no different from the Shudras.

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Third, this could refer to the phenomenon of the absorption of tribal people in caste society
as Shudra peasantry. It is of course hypothetically possible that the different statements in our
sources may collectively represent in some, hitherto unexplained, way the sum total of all
these inferences. However, the point is that the problem of the exact correlation of this shift in
Varna theory with the historical reality, especially the mutually contradictory nature of the first
two inferences, has so far not been realized by historians, and needs to be sorted out.
From about the third to the post-Gupta centuries, a number of developments take place
in the history of untouchability. Although the practice had been known earlier, the term
‘untouchable (asprishya) for them is used for the first time now. The number of untouchable
castes increases through the period, largely through the absorption of aboriginal groups in the
caste society. However, the Chandalas and the Shvapachas (literally, ‘dog-cookers’) remained
the most conspicuous of them. The miserable life of these people seldom failed to attract the
attention of shocked foreign observers. Early in the Gupta period, Fa Xian noticed it, and in
the seventh century Xuan Zang observed: ‘Butchers, fishermen, public performers, executioners,
and scavengers have their habitation marked by a distinguishing sign. They are forced to live
outside the city and sneak along on the left when going about in the hamlets.’
The practice of slavery seems to have continued without much remarkable change. This
may be inferred from the treatment of the subject in the legal digests called shastras: the topic
is treated in more or less the same manner in a Gupta-period work as in a twelfth-century
one, the Mitakshara, which is otherwise very particular about recording change. Slaves seem
to have mainly been used as domestic labour.
As with the other social groups, the status of women did not remain unchanged during
the transition to the early medieval period. The changes that are noticed mainly pertain to the
womenfolk of the upper classes of society; of course these changes did not occur uniformly
everywhere. The brahmanical attitudes betray certain unmistakable tendencies of further
depreciation of women’s status, one of the most intolerable things being a woman’s attempt to
have independence (svatantryd). There was an increasing tendency to club them together with
either property or Shudras, just the Chandalas were coming to be bracketed with dogs and
donkeys. Post-puberty marriages were deprecated, with one authority prescribing the age of the
bride as one-third of the bridegroom’s. Wives would considerably outlive husbands in such cases,
and detailed provisions were accordingly made for regulating the lives of widows. An extreme
provision was that she should become a sati, i.e. commit suicide with her husband’ dead body
on the funeral pyre (or without it if it had already perished, as Harsha’s sister Rajyashri tried
to do). Although not unknown in the earlier periods, the practice of sati gained ground steadily
in early medieval times as instances of it begin to multiply. However, this did not win universal
approval even in Brahmanism. Baanbhttaa and Shudraka, the leading literary figures of the times,
criticised it strongly, and the strongest protest was beginning to develop in tantrism, Which was
to declare it a most sinful act.
A general indication of the depreciation in the social standing of upper caste women is
the deliberate erasure of their pre-marital identity after marriage. Till the Gupta period there is
evidence that a woman did not need to lose her gotra identity and affiliation after marriage;
thereafter, however, such marriages seem to have gone ‘gradually gone out of use, at least among
the ordinary people’.

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Sometimes a certain ‘improvement’ in the status of women in early medieval times is
perceived in the fact that they were allowed, like the Shudras, to listen to certain religious texts
and worship deities. However, this seems to have served, by making them religious-minded, mainly
to strengthen the brahmanical religions and enhance the income of the officiating priests rather
than to improve the quality of women’s lives. Much cannot also be made of the increase in
the scope of stridhana, i.e. the wealth that a women could receive as a gift, for this did little
to empower them in relation to men; their dependence and helplessness remained unaffected.
While some authorities tried to get inheritance rights for the widow or daughter of a man dying
sonless, actual historical instances make it clear that their prescriptions were routinely disregarded
in favour of the contrary opinion by the early medieval kings, who would confiscate the property
of such persons except for some privileged few; this provision, however, like those against
widow remarriage and advocating sati, did not apply to the women of Shudra Varna. In fact,
as in the previous and following periods, women of the labouring masses, simply for the reason
that they had to work in the fields, pastures, etc. along with men in order to keep body and
soul together, could not be subjected to the same kind of subordination and helplessness as
was the fate of women of the privileged classes.
CULTURE
It is for the multi-faceted cultural activities that the documentation in our period - literary
and monumental - is the richest, liveliest, and most vivid. It is best appreciated firsthand, visually
via the sites of monuments or by reading up the literature - through a colourfully illustrated
narrative at a pinch - rather than through an investigation into the transitional aspects of it.
However; such investigation helps us place the creative-aesthetic-scientific achievements of the
age in their proper historical contexts, enriching our sensibilities thereby, and therefore comes in
very useful whenever we decide to descend on the monuments or dive in the literature. There
exists a highly technical and voluminous scholarly output on the different aspects of these activities,
and, in the limited space at our disposal, we can do no more than describe some broad trends.
There were a number of significant linguistic developments. First, there was the onset and*growth
of the third stage of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, i.e. the Prakrits [Old Indo-Aryan languages
include Classical and Vedic Sanskrit], from about AD 600. This third stage of the Middle Indo-
Aryan is termed Apabhramsha by the linguists, out of which the New or Modern Indo-Aryan
languages such as Hindi and Marathi began to evolve from the tenth century. Second, the
predominance of Sanskrit continued to grow as the official language of the states and one used
for trans-provincial communication throughout the culture region of South and South-east Asia,
apart from as a language of literature and religion; towards the end of our period even the
Jainas were beginning to give up their Ardha-Magadhi Prakrit in its favour. In the history of
Sanskrit legal literature, our period marks a watershed, during which the last of the Smritis, the
Katyayana Smriti, was composed, and towards the end of which the great tradition of Sanskrit
commentaries on these Smritis made its first beginning with the commentary of Asahaya on the
Narada Smriti.
Third, there was the continuing ascent of Tamil along with the foundations of Kannada
and Telugu as a literary language. The growth of Tamil received a great fillip from the Bhakti
movement. Although no extant works can be ascribed to our period, epigraphic references as
well as the later literary ones show nevertheless that Kannada was flourishing as a literary
language, aided by state patronage and royal participation. For instance, Durvinita, who is
mentioned as a celebrated literary figure of the language, was probably the sixth-century Ganga

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king Durvinita of southern Karnataka. As for Telugu, the discovery of fragments of an early text
on prosody, called Janashraychhandas, points to a strong likelihood that its rise as a literary
language may have commenced as early as the first references to Telugu words in stone inscriptions
of the fifth and sixth century AD.
In the field of religion, the Puranic temple-based Brahmanical sects, about the nature and
rise of which you have already read in the previous lessons, continued to be in the ascendant. Of
these the Vaishnava and Shaiva sects were the most important. Taking the evidence of royal
patronage as an indicator, the various Shaiva sects appear to have been moving ahead of the
Vaishnava ones during our period.
A major new development of great importance was Bhakti movement in the Tamil south.
The idea of bhakti or devotion to a deity was basic to most sects of the period, but it was in
the south during our period that it was invested with an unprecedented emotional intensity and
became the focua of a powerful religious movement. It was espoused by both Shaiva saints called
Nayanars and Vaishnava ones called Alvars. They journeyed extensively in propagation of their
faith; debated with rivals; sang, danced and composed beautiful lyrics in praise of their deities; and
converted kings and commoners alike to their faith, exhorting them to bring disgrace to the other
faiths. Besides fulfilling the religious cravings of the people, the idea of bhakti served to tone down
the severity of the iniquitous caste system as well as helped, as the central doctrine of temple-
based religiosity and in calling forth the unquestioning loyalty of the subjects, the monarchs to shore
up their rule.
There is a perceptible decline in some areas of Buddhism, which had gradually been falling
out of royal favour since the Gupta period. In many others, however, it continued to retain a
substantial presence. There was a century of lavish royal patronage by the Maitraka state of
Saurashtra in the west, and in the east the importance of Nalanda reached its peak during this time
as the most outstanding of all the centres of Buddhist learning, to which some more like Vikramashila,
Oddantapuri, and Somapura were added. In Gujarat and Rajasthan regions, Jainism too seems to
have done reasonably well among the people despite the dwindling royal support.
It is in the South that the two religions lost out to Brahmanism in a major way, although
the Kannada territory remained a Jaina stronghold. There was never any love lost between them
and the Brahmanical religions, and religious rivalry and persecution have long been identified as
distinct features of our age, despite a certain general reluctance to accept it and a rather desperate
bid by some scholars to see nothing but religious tolerance and harmony. There were no doubt
kings during these centuries who were evenhanded in their attitudes to the various religions, but so
were those with partisan views bordering on bigotry. For instance, the following quote from one
of the earliest studies on South Indian Jainism represents a standard view of the downfall of the
faith in the region, about which students of history tend to be unfamiliar these days:
The vast remains in South India of mutilated statues, deserted caves, and ruined temples
at once recall to our mind the greatness of the religion in days gone by and the theological rancour
of the Brahmins who wiped it out of all active existence. The Jains have been forgotten, their
traditions have been ignored; but, the memory of that bitter struggle between Jainism and Hinduism,
characterised by bloody episodes in the South, is constantly kept alive in the series of frescoes on
the wall of the mantapam of the Golden Lily Tank of the famous Minakshi Temple of Madura.
... As though this were not sufficient... the whole tragedy is gone through at five of the twelve
annual festivals at the Madura temple.

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Tantrism was well on way to becoming a salient feature of religious life all over the
subcontinent. In Tantrism the cult of female divinities, who were in general known as Tara in
Buddhism and Shakti or Devi in Brahmanism, was combined with a set of esoteric beliefs and
magical practices. A graphic portrayal of Tantric religion is seen in the Harshacharita, where a
Sascetic from the South performs what may clearly be identified as a Tantric rite for Harsha’s
ancestor Pushpabhuti. The ascetic lived near an old temple of the Mothers (matri), and performed
a fire-rite in the mouth of a corpse in an empty building near ‘a great cremation ground’ on the
fourteenth night of the dark fortnight.
Among the other features of religious life in this period of transition, one was the coming
of Islam on the west coast and in Sindh, and the other was the expansion of Christian communities
from Malabar and some other places on the west coast in early sixth century to the east coast
of ,the peninsula by the eighth.
Philosophy continued to be enlivened and enriched by debates and discussions. Apart from
the six maj^r schools of philosophy in Brahmanism, there were, as you already know, three
‘heterodox’, i.e. non-Brahmanical ones: Buddhist, Jaina, and Charvaka. No works of the Charvakas
have come down to us and their views are known only through refutation by others. A major
representative of this school was Purandara, who probably lived in the seventh century and is known
to have composed texts on his school of philosophy. In the same century flourished Dharmakirti,
the outstanding Buddhist philosopher. In Vedanta philosophy we have Gaudapada, who is reputed
to have been Shankaracharya’s paramaguru, the teacher of his teacher. Some greatest names in
Mimamsa philosophy also belong to our period: Shabara, Prabhakara, and Kumarila.
In stone architecture, there were two major forms: rock-cut and structural. Rock architecture,
as you probably already kno w, refers to the creation of architectural forms in living rock. These
rock-cut temples and monasteries usually look like artificial caves in hills and cliffs. These were
distinct from ‘structural’ architecture, which refers to building freestanding structures with dressed-
stone (or brick) masonry. Occasionally these two forms could be combined, but normally they
remained separate, and have different chronological spans. Rock architecture, which over its long
career was a virtually pan-South Asian phenomenon, goes back to the Mauryan period, but it is
from about mid-fifth, century (beginning at Ajanta and Ellora) that it entered its most active phase.
By the end of our period the great age of rock architecture in Indian art history was by and large
drawing to a close, even though its greatest achievement - the Kailasanatha temple at Ellora - comes
just after it. It was during these centuries that construction of structural buildings in stone and brick
got under way in an important way, but the really magnificent and classic phase of structural temples
begins after the age of rock architecture was over. Generally speaking, there was an overlap between
the two types of construction during our centuries, except in the south under the Pallavas, where
the structural phase begins in the eighth century only after the rock-cut phase comes to an end
in the seventh.
As the fine examples from Ajanta and Ellora testify, major advances were made as the artists
stopped imitating wooden prototypes and achieved increasing perfection of design and execution;
in some instances, it has been observed, ‘lines are straighter, angles more correct, and surfaces more
true than in any other examples’. Further, two monasteries at Ellora are the only examples we have
of three storeys in rock-cut art. Till about the end of the sixth century Buddhism largely dominated
the rock-cut mode of architecture, and then gradually Brahmanism became more important, followed
by Jainism. Despite the different religious affiliations, the architectural style remained common, expect
for some adaptation for ritualistic purposes.

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Examples of freestanding structures, built of stone or brick, are known from an earlier
period. A most remarkable development of our period was the evolution of the typical brahmanical
temple of the medieval era. The medieval temple was a very elaborate structure with several typical
features. The process began, about the turn of the sixth century, with the addition of a tower called
shikhara to the flat roofs of the shrine-rooms of the Gupta period. The earliest examples of such
an addition come from Bhitargaon near Kanpur (brick) and Deogarh near Jhansi and Aihole near
Badami (stone). The remaining features were gradually added till about AD 740, when at the
Vaikunthanath Perumal shrine at Kanchipuram we see a combination of all the standard attributes
of the medieval temple. The evolution occurred at different pace in various regions. For instance,
an important stage in the evolution was the connection of the pillared assembly hall called mandapa
with the sanctum by means of a vestibule called antarala. As late as AD 700 this had not become
a general practice as it is absent in both the Shore temple at Mamallapuram and the Kailasanatha
at Kanchipuram (this Kailasanatha temple was used as an inspiration for the one at Ellora).
In sculpture, the classical tradition with its emphasis on fully rounded volume by and large
continued. The medieval style, in which rounded volume and smooth convex lines give way to flat
surfaces and sharp curves, is seen occasionally in isolated examples, such as in a sixth-century
frieze at the Dhamek stupa at Sarnath, but it did not come into its own till a later period, and
even then remained confined to certain regions only.
The same is true of painting. It was quite a developed art by the onset of our period, and
the Vishnudharmottara Purana, a contemporary text from Kashmir, provides a detailed account
of its various aspects. Literary references show that there were both murals (paintings on walls and
ceiling) of different types in private homes, royal palaces, and religious places as well popular
portable galleries of pictures drawn on textiles. However, although several examples of paintings
from our period have survived, they all are all murals in religious establishments. The best-preserved
specimens come from the sixth-century Buddhist caves (rock-cut halls) at Bagh in Madhya Pradesh,
Ajanta, and Badami, the seventh-century rock-cut Jaina temple at Sittanavasal in Tamil Nadu (a
good part of the extant paintings, it has now been found out, belong to the ninth century), and
the seventh-century Shaiva Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram. Outside India, Sigiri in Sri Lanka
furnishes beautiful instances. The tradition of classical painting continued in all these and many other
cases through the seventh century and beyond. In the classical mode, there was an attempt at
three-dimensional representation by employing several techniques, such as chiaroscuro (use of light
and shade by means of colour shades and tones). Through these centuries, however, the medieval
style, which was to find a foothold in many regions, was also developing; it appears in an eighth-
century Ellora painting with a completeness that suggests a long period of prior evolution. As in
sculpture, the classical and the medieval were to coexist in South Asia after our period.
In the scientific field, Brahmagupta is the most outstanding figure in our period. He made
a number of seminal contributions in mathematics. He was the first mathematician in the world
to recognize negative numbers, which he presented as ‘debts’ in contrast to positive numbers,
which he called ‘fortunes’. In many other ways he was ahead of the mathematicians of the time.
For instance, one of his methods for proving Pythagoras’ theorem remained unknown to the
western world till the seventeenth century. Astronomy was closely linked to mathematics, the
word for the mathematician - ganaka - being also the term for the astronomer. Like his equally
eminent predecessor Aryabhata, Brahmagupta was thus an astronomer also. He headed a major

8. 10
observatory, and grappled with such questions as lunar and solar eclipses, conjunctions of the
moving planets with each other as well as with fixed stars, etc.
However, although he was characteristically dazzling in applying mathematical techniques
to astronomy, Brahmagupta failed to achieve the same success in astronomy. He in fact strongly
argued for the wrong conclusion that the earth does not rotate on its axis. The reason for this
was his inability to go beyond and question the religion-sanctioned knowledge. It has been shown
how Brahmagupta was prevented from achieving the same success in astronomy by the
stranglehold of scriptural authority. Thus while he attempted a careful calculation of the diameter
of the shadow of earth in order to see how the “moon is eclipsed by it, he also condemned
the ‘heretics’ who mock and reject the view that the demon Rahu swallows celestial bodies!
Evidently the same need to uphold religious authority led him to revile and reject Aryabhata’s
findings.
The Surya Siddhanta, which provided the basis of medieval astronomy in India from
the fifth century onwards by replacing the Vedanga astronomy, continued to undergo gradual
changes; it was its later version, one that evolved between AD 628 and 960, that was to gain
immense popularity. In Tamil region, an old system of astronomical calculations by means of
certain numerical schemes continued as a parallel tradition, as distinct from the trigonometrical
tradition of the Surya Siddhanta. Apart from Brahmagupta, Bhaskara I, who was a contemporary
of Brahmagupta and a disciple of the great Aryabhata, and Lalla (AD 748) were the leading
astronomers of our times.
In medicine, Vagbhata claimed, or was claimed, to have become the leading authority
for his age, rendering superfluous the previous masters. There are two Vagbhatas, the first of
whom wrote a treatise called the Ashtanga-sangraha, and who flourished in the seventh century
just before the visit of the Chinese pilgrim Yijing. Scholars place the other Vagbhata, the author
of Ashtanga-hrdaya-samhita, about a century later. Both were Buddhists, and thus bear witness
to the close links of Buddhism with the medical tradition; medicine was avidly studied in the
monasteries of Nalanda and Vikramashila.
Conclusion
In this and the previous lesson, you have studied how the lives of people in early India
were being transformed in several significant ways over the two hundred odd years. Our concern
was with identifying the dynamics of change rather than providing a detailed description of
economy, polity, society, and culture. For instance, no attempt has been made to give an account
of the numerous works of literature that were produced during these centuries. The purpose
has been to discuss change, not narrate details.
You must not imagine, however, that the changes occurred in a uniform fashion all over
the subcontinent. The transition to the medieval era occurred at different points of time in different
spheres and regions, and the pace at which change occurred also varied. Moreover, historical
change seldom occurs in a sweeping, wholesale fashion. Remnants of the past, including the
remotest past, somehow manage to cling to us; the scientist D. D. Kosambi in fact would always
urge historians to detect clues to the past in the present. All the same, the patterns of change
that we have outlined above made early Indian society recognizably different about mid-eighth
century from what it was about mid-sixth. As you read on, you shall see how the processes
of transformation continued to operate in the times ahead.

9. 11
SUGGESTED READINGS
Agrawal, D.P. The Archaeology of India.
Alichin, F.R. and B. Origins of a Civilization. The Prehistory and each
Archaeology of South Asia.
Basham, A.L. The Wonder That was India.
Chakrabarti, D.K. Archaeology of Ancient Indian Cities.
Chattopadhyay, B. Kushan State and Indian Society.
Gonda, J. Vishnuism and Shivasimed Corporation.
Gurukul Rajan Cultural History of Kerala.
and M.R.R. Varrier
Huntington, S.L. The Art of Ancient India.
Jaiswal, Survira Caste, Origin, Function and Dimentions.
Jha, D.N. Ancient Indian in Historical Outline (1998 edu.)
Kosambi, D.D. Culture and Civilization of Ancient India in Historical Outline.
Kulke, H. Historical Outline
Rothermund, D. A History of India.
Maity, S.K. Economic Life in Nothern India in the Gupta Period.
Margabandhu, C. Archaeology of Satavahana-Kshatrapa Times.
Moenakshi, C. Social Life and Administration under the Pallavas.
Ray, H.P. Monastery and Guild.
Ray Niharanjan Maurya and post Maurya Art.
Sastri, K.A.N. A History of South India.
Sharma, R.S. Perspective in Social and Economic History of Early India.
Sharma, R.S. Aspects of Political Ideas Institutions in Ancient India
(1991 edu.)
Subramania, N. Sangam Policy.
Thapar, Romila History of early India.
Thapar, Romila Ashoka and the decline of the Mauryas (1997 edu.)
Yazdani, G. Early History of the Deccan.

10. 12
LESSON 2
INDIAN MERCHANTS IN OVERSEAS TRADE
(8TH
TO 15TH
CENTURIES)
Madhu Trivedi
The long standing economic image of Indian subcontinent as totally agrarian, especially in
the context of early medieval period, has changed considerably in the historical researches of recent
past. These researches show that there was an active non-agrarian sector of the traditional economy
though it remained ‘firmly rooted to overarching agrarian material milieu’.1
Sustained scholarly efforts
also show that urbanization, craft production and trade were quite visible in India up to c. AD
1300. Economic historians, roughly from the middle of the 1980s, have highlighted the significance
of Indian Occean in the trading activities and linkages of India in the oceanic trade net-work.
Their researches have successfully negated the widely believed stigma that Indians were averse
to seafaring in order to retain their ritual purity, and such attitudes were available in the normative
Brahmanical law books, and at the most, these were probably applicable only to the priestly
community. On the contrary we find the existence of a ‘commercial economy that incorporated
many societies of Eurasia and Africa’ and its economic impact was not insignificant in any way.
Material milieu of Indian society of was undoubtedly agricultural and bulk of the Indian population
was engaged in agriculture, yet trade (vanijyd) was also recognized as one of the major ingredients
of economic life from remote times. India’s role in the maritime network of Indian Occean was
substantial.
The central position of India in the Indian Ocean
It may be pointed out here that in respect of maritime trade India enjoyed a unique position on
three counts: one, it had a vast landmass; two it was surrounded on three sides by the Indian Ocean;
and lastly it had, along with Sri Lanka, a central position in Indian Ocean which undoubtedly dominates
the sea-face of Asia.
Indian Ocean occupies almost 20% of maritime space. It includes in it two important sea-lanes
in the west - The Red Sea and the Persian Gulf - and washes the sea coast of Africa. The eastern sector
of Indian Ocean is marked by the Bay of Bengal (but not the Java and the China Seas), and it stretches
up to the Antarctica in the south. In spite of the fact that the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans are larger
than the Indian Ocean, it is the Indian Ocean which has acted as a bridge amongst numerous communities
of Asia and Africa over a very long period of time. This association has yielded far reaching results
especially in the context of maritime trade and has projected Asia as one of the leading maritime zone
of the world. It has also been instrumental in establishing unity between the maritime space and its
related landmass. The maritime historians have taken keen interest in delineating India’s position in the
Indian Ocean affairs and establishing the maritime linkages in this maritime space.
1
Ranabir Chakravarti, Visiting Faraway Shores: India’s Trade in the Western Indian Ocean, in Rajat Dutta’s, p.

11. 13
The historiographical gap in trade history
The existing historiography suggests three broad strands or areas of academic interests:
(1) The maritime linkages of Harrapan civilization (c. 2500BC -1750 BC) with Sumer and
Akkad through the Persian Gulf.
(2) India’s flourishing sea-borne commerce with the Roman empire through the Res Sea (late
1st
century BC to AD 250)
(3) The changes in India’s maritime situation owing to the involvement of European trading
Companies in the Indian Occean.
One may notice a historiographical gap for the maritime history of the period ranging from
8th
to 15th
centuries; a period which witnessed a transition from early medieval to medieval. It may be
pointed out here that this period is considered as a period of crisis in social, economic and political
spheres. According to some prominent historians of feudalism, such as R. S. Sharma, this period
especially from 500 to 1000AD marked the emergence and consolidation of self sufficient, enclose and
stagnant village economy which was not favorable to trade, especially long-distance overseas trade. The
paucity of trade led to urban decay and the attendant ‘monetary anemia’.Although they agree that there
was a revival of trade including the maritime trade in India from 1000 AD onwards. This concept of
sharp decline in the overseas commerce in early medieval India has given view to the relatively languishing
role of India in the trade of Indian Ocean. This formulation was contested by K. N. Chaudhury.
According to him written evidences bring out an entirely different image of the overseas trade in the
eighth and ninth centuries and reflect that trade was not languishing during the early medieval period as
has been assumed by the historians of feudalism. Indian merchants not actively participated in the Indian
Ocean commerce; they played an important role in it.
Sources for the history of overseas trade during 8th
to 15th
centuries
Alarge number of Sanskrit inscriptions and indigenous literary texts,Arabic and Persian accounts,
Chinese texts, the account of the Italian traveller Marco polo (late thirteenth century), and the letters
of the Jewish merchants trading with India provide information for the history of overseas trade for the
early medieval period. However, the information offered by these sources should be cautiously handled
which is ‘hardly adequate, often scattered and stereotyped and offer little statistical data’ and these
sources belong to the category of ‘qualitative sources’. However, this fact does not in any way
undermine their importance as source of history of the Indian overseas trade during the period under
review. The letters of Jewish merchants, known to us as Genizah documents, are particularly important
in this regard. They highlight the activities of travellers of India (musafirun ul Hind), which generally
belonged to the trading community. These letters ‘enable us to hear the voices of the merchants who
actually participated in the Indian Ocean trade; they also occasionally provide some statistical information’.
The Arab travelers and merchants were also frequenting the water sector of Indian Ocean. It is
confirmed by the descriptions of the firstArab invasion in early eighth century, narrated in a later source
Chachnama which point to the direct voyages between Daibul and Sri Lanka.
2
For details see Ranabir Chakravarti, of cit. p.

12. 14
Revival of trade in the Indian Ocean (c. 1000 AD)
K. N. Chaudhury and some other leading scholars like G. F. Hourani have effectively shown
that there was a great spurt in commercial activities in the Indian Ocean after the rise and spread of
Islam. It was mainly because of the fact that Islamic culture had a ‘pronounced orientation in commerce
and urban life1
, and this phenomenon had a favourable bearing on the trade in the Indian Ocean from
late eighth and early ninth century onwards and provided a major boost to the maritime commerce of
India during the early medieval period. The geographical accounts and travelogues of Arab and Persian
authors frequently mention the expression al bahr al Hindi which refers to Indian Ocean and also
included bahr Larvi i. e. the sea of lata or Gujarat. The Arab authors were clearly familiar with the
channel (aghbab) that separated the southern part of the Indian peninsula with the Sri Lanka. The
maritime space to the east was designated by these authors as bahr Harkal, or Harkand. Chinise
annals also speak of maritime linkages with India and various areas of Indian Ocean for which they use
the expression Hsi-hai. This also suggests to the frequent sailings of the merchants across the vast
maritime space.
The sailing patterns
The sailing patterns in the Indian Ocean were determined by the monsoon wind system. The
shipping in this maritime «space was largely guided and shaped by the more or less predictable
alterations of the south-western (June to September) and north-eastern monsoon (October to January)
wind system. The western terminus of the Indian Ocean network at the time of its zenith was situated
in Siraf, Kish, and Hormuz (in the Persian Gulf) and al Fustat (old Cairo) under the Fatimid Caliphate
in Egypt, while the eastern terminus was stretched to the ports of South East Asia and China. Because
of the alterations of the monsoon winds, it was difficult to make a round trip in the western and eastern
terminals of this vast maritime space in a single year.This situation must have been immensely advantageous
to the overseas commerce of India which had two seaboards dotted with numerous ports ideally suited
as stopovers and as points of transshipments. It must have also facilitated the growth of brisk import
and export transactions.
A careful study of these sources show that the maritime trade of India was not certainly of that
magnitude as it was during the time of the Roman empire. Also, this fact cannot be denied that there
was a gradual decline of the premier ports of that particular era during the eighth century such as
Broach, Kaveripattinam, and Tamralipta. However, decline in maritime commerce was not that sharp,
and this period was not a period of slump as has been assumed by the historians of feudalism. There
are voluminous evidences in the Arabic and Persian to show the volume of overseas contacts of India
with the countries in the maritime space ,of Indian Ocean. They speak about the importance of Indian
ports and the transactions of commodities, which show that many new ports began to gain importance
from about the eighth century.
A whole range of information is available the Arabic and Persian sources for the period
under review from the secend half of the ninth century to thirteenth century. Mention may be
made of Sulaiman merchant (c. 851), ibn Khuradbeh (c. 882) al Masudi (c. 915), al Biruni
(1030), al Marvazi (1120), al Idrisi (c. 1162), Ibn Battuta (early fourteenth century). In addition
to the Arabic and Persian works there are some valuable Chinese and European accounts which
shed ample light on the trade history of the Indian Ocean during the thirteenth century. The
Chinese account was by an officer Chau ju Kua (12250, who supervised the foreign trade
under the Sung dynasty and wrote a valuable account of the commodities and ports of India.
The other was the famous Morco Polo who has written elaborately on the commerce of Indian
Ocean towards the end of the thirteenth century. The Jewish merchant’s commercial business

13. 15
enterprises extended from Tunisia and Levant to Egypt and Aden, trom where they sailed to Indian
ports on the west coast. The account of their activities is found in the trade documents known as
Genizah papers.
The growth of trade in the Persian Gulf around 10th
century
The establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad facilitated the growth of trade in the
Persian Gulf. Initially the premier port in the Persian Gulf was Siraf which, however, languished in the
late eleventh century and later on Kish or Qays acquired great prominence. The most important port
in this maritime space was Hormuz which emerged as the premier port in the western Indian Ocean
commerce during the thirteenth century.After the rise of Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt in 965 the Red Sea
network acquired prominence. It further established linkages with the vibrant Mediterranean maritime
trade through Egypt which acted like a pivot between the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
The premier ports of the eastern Indian Ocean
Both the sectors of western and eastern India Ocean were dotted with numerous ports. A large
number of these ports owed their origin and prosperity to the maritime trade in the Indian Ocean. This
phenomenon is noticeable from the eighth century onwards.
Indus delta: The most important port in the Indus delta was Daybul which had certainly prospered
in the new scenario. It seems to be well connected with Multan and Mansura on one hand and also
with the Makran coast on the other.
Gujarat: In the Gujarat coast a new port, Stambatirtha/Stambhak came into prominence during the
period under review. This famous port, today known to as Cambay, figures in the Arab accounts as
Kanbaya and Kambaya. According to V. K. Jain the rise of the Chalukyas as a regional power of
Gujarat paved the way for the integration of the coast with the extensive interior by a number of
overland routes.3
There were some other factors which facilitated the growth of trade in the region and
contributed greatly to the prosperity of the ports of Gujarat:
(1) Gujarat experienced tremendous agricultural growth in the early medieval period.
(2) There is the emergence of a new type of exchange centre in western India, especially in Gujarat,
Rajasthan, Malwa, and the region which now forms the western part of modern Uttar Pradesh. It was
known as mandapika (modern mandi).
This meant that the ports on the Gujarat coast commanded a vast hinterland for commerce and
they maintained coastal linkages with ports in the Konkan and Malabar, and most importantly with
Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. It was also well served by a few smaller ports in the vicinity. Divi (Diu)
was another important port from where ships sailed to Aden. It was well connected with Kanara coast
and Aden. Another prominent port was Somnath. According to Al Biruni it was the vintage point of
departure for Zanz or Zanzibar in east Africa. A bi-lingual inscription (in Arabic and Sanskrit of 1264
proves that Somnath was well connected with Hormuz and received ships regularly from here.
Konkan: Towards the south of Gujarat lay the narrow strip of Konkan region dotted with
numerous ports. Amongst these Sristhanaka (thana) was of great eminence. Others were
Candrapur which is mentioned as Sindabur in Arabic sources (modern Chandaur), and
Gopakapattana (modern Goa), and Chaul (referred as Saimur). As is evident from the Sanskrit
3 V.K. Jain, Trade and Traders in Western India AD 1000-1300, Delhi, 1989.

14. 16
inscriptions, Arabic texts and Jewish business letters, these ports were less prosperous and prominent
than the ports of Gujarat although geographically these ports were located in the most advantageous
area in the harbour building. It was probably because of the fact that neither they had rich hinterland
at their command nor they had linkages with the interior because of the geographical barriers between
the coast and the mainland. These ports were, however, engaged in looping coastal commerce. The
Sanskrit inscriptions of Kadamba rulers mention about the long voyages from around Goa to Somnath
in Kathiawad. They also derived substantial advantages from their linkages with Persian Gulf commerce.
These ports of Konkan witnessed regular settlements of Arab merchants referred as Tajjikas
in the Sanskrit inscriptions. Al Masudi noted the presence of large number of Omani, Sirafi and
Baghdadi merchants at the port of Chaul.
Malabar: The prominent ports of Malabar, the southernmost section of the western sea-board, were
Kulam Mali (Quilon), Panatalyani, Kollam, and Calicut. The Malabar ports had an advantageous
situation to their credit that they could be reached from both the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea ports
by utilizing the south western monsoon around thirty days. These ports handled the invaluable cargo of
spices, especially the pepper. Amongst the Malabar ports Calicut attained immense glory during the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Ibn Battuta speaks about Calicut in glorious terms. According to him
the huge Chinese junks did not sail further west of Calicut, and that Calicut provided excellent transshipment
facilities for Chinese and Arab vessels.
Eastern Indian Ocean
Significant developments occurred in the patterns of trade in early medieval centuries in the
expansion of maritime activity in the eastern water of the Indian Ocean and the China Sea. The old
silk-route, a major trade route for commerce with the Roman world, of China had been cut off; and
from the seventh century onwards maritime connection developed between China and the Persian Gulf.
The maritime activities were greatly increased in South East Asia under strong Hindu and Indian
Buddhist influence. Also, there is the entry of Indian merchants into direct trading with China. Mali
patan, Negapatan, and Kaveripatan were the prominent ports of this sector. The Chinese sources show
that in the early twelfth century_,thg_major portion of the export trade was in the ships of the Kling
merchants of Coromandel and Ceylon. Shortly” afterwards these were outclassed by the Chinese junks
(vessels) which started plying in the Indian Ocean and visiting Indian ports. During the thirteenth and
fourteenth century no traveler could think of travelling to and from China except in these Junks. The
Chinese junk of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was technically the most advanced and sea
worthy vessel of its period.
By the end of 1175 the common pattern of transshipment of commodities was set. The Arabian
Sea ships sailed to the ports of Malabar and Coromandel in dhow, a variety of vessel of non-Arab
origin. Then the passengers and commodities of the dhows were exchanged with the junks plying in the
Eastern Indian Ocean. In the earlier pattern, during the eleventh and early twelfth centuries, the goods
were transferred from the Arab vessels to Kling bottoms in south India.
Exchange of commodities/ pattern of export and import
Our sources show that these ports were actively involved in the exchange of
commodities, such as strategic war-animals, spices and medicaments, toys (works of arts and
craft), rarities, and exotic textiles, and base metals for brass industry. Among the perennial

15. 17
export items of India were various types of textiles of Gujarat, Malwa, and Bengal. Textile products
ranged from the famous muslins of Bengal to ordinary cotton meant for daily necessity.4
Precious gems
and stones formed a favourite item of export.Amongst spices, the pepper of Malabar was highly prized.
The Genizah papers of Jewish merchants inform about the regular shipments of pepper from Malabar
Coast and it fetched high price. It was exported in large quantities from Malabar to Aden, and from
there through the Red Sea to Egypt. From Egypt pepper finally reached the Italian ports by voyages
across the Mediterranian. Aloe wood and teak was in high demand in west Asia, especially Indian teak
which was regularly exported to Persian Gulf and .Red Sea ports as the basic raw material for building
ships for Arab merchants. The Genizah letters tell us about the shipment of various types of iron from
the ports of Malabar to Aden during the period from eleventh to thirteenth centuries. Indigo was also
regularly sent to the ‘west’.
The impressions of Ibn Battuta and a Chinese writer Ma huan reveal that that Bengal shipped
rice to Maldives which in return sent out cowry shells which functioned as a major currency not only
in eastern India, but also in some places on east and west coast of Africa. The cowry currency was
part and parcel of Indian Ocean economy of the pre modern times and it was used as small exchanges
in the maritime net work of Indian Ocean.
India received exotic spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, camphor and gems especially ruby
as well as sandal from Sri Lanka and south-east Asia as imports many of which were further shipped
to the ‘western’destinations. This suggests India’s participation in transit trade. Indian imports certainly
included precious metals, especially gold and silver. These metals were generally preferred by Indian
merchants as form of payment for their commodities. Copper was also brought to India from westAsia.
Silk was also imported from Aden.
There was great demand for war horses from Arabia and Pars. It may be noted here that good
quality war horses, called Tatari, were regularly imported from the central Asian steppe regions. These
were brought to India by overland routes through the northwestern borderlands of the subcontinent.
From the eleventh century onwards horses of excellent quality began to arrive from Arabia and Pars
by overseas transportation. These horses, described as bahri (sea-borne) in Arabic and Persian sources,
were imported in large quantity at enormous price - each fetching a price of over 200 gold coins.
According to Marco polo every year ten thousand horses were shipped to Pandya kingdom alone from
the ports like Shihr, Kish, Hormuz, and Aden. The Malabar Coast served as the entry point of these
bahri horses and the Tamil horse-dealers were engaged in the distribution of these horses to distant
power centres.
During the fourteenth century large quantities of luxury textiles were imported from the Islamic
Near East for the consumption at the court of Delhi sultans. Chinese silk and Chinese porcelain were
also imported in large quantity for them.
Merchant communities
The merchant communities included nakhudas (ship captains), nauvittakas (ship-owners),
and navikakarmakaras (sailors) besides the merchants involved in the transshipment trade which
included small traders for which the peddler term is used. The big traders stayed at the base
of operation. The captaincy of ships over vast distances required nautical skills and experience
for which Arabs, Indians, Malays, and Chinese ship captains (nakhudas) were available who were
highly esteemed. The Indian merchants involved in the overseas trade were very rich and many
of these were ship owners. This is not only true of the western sector of the Indian Ocean, the
Tamil merchants were also very prosperous, especially the ship-owning merchants. The
4 Lallanji Gopal, Economic Conditions in Northern India AD 750-1200, Delhi, 1965.

16. 18
merchants were undoubtedly the key players in the maritime network of the Indian Ocean. Indian
merchants did undertake overseas voyages both in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.
Jewish merchants had an active role in the coastal network along the western sea-board and
had a prominent role in India trade. The Jewish and Muslim merchants engaged in Indian Ocean trade
hardly faced religious intolerance. Al Masudi noted in the in the early tenth century that Muslim
merchants were given excellent support by the Rashtrakuta rulers to the extent that they were allowed
to construct mosques in the port town of Konkan. A bilingual inscription tells about the construction of
a majigiti (masj id/mosque) in Somnath where Islamic festivals were celebrated which were typically
associated with nakhudas, nauvittakas (ship-owners), and navikakarmakaras (sailors). The merchant
communities in the Indian Ocean ‘played as bridges among different ethnic groups and religious faith’.
We may conclude by saying that Indian Ocean had already become a much frequented maritime
zone long before the arrival of Portuguese in the late fifteenth century. The trade activities in the Indian
Ocean were precipitated around the tenth century and Indian Ocean was a ‘theatre’ of merchants,
sailors and even pirates. Indian ports on western and eastern sectors had all the hustle bustle of a busy
commercial life. The political powers, undoubtedly, were greatly benefited from the immense oversea
trading activities in the vast maritime space, but they did not consider it an arena to establish their
authority as may be witnessed in the venture of the European trading companies from about the
sixteenth century.
Reading List
B. D. Chattopadhaya, The Making of Early Medieval India. Delhi, 1994.
Lallanji Gopal, Economic Conditions in Northern India AD 750-1200, Delhi, 1965.
Ranabir Chakravarti, Visiting Faraway Shores: India’s Trade in the Western Indian Occean, in Rajat
Dutta’s,.
Ranabir Chakravarti, Trade in Early India, New Delhi, Manohar, 2002.
Tapan Raychaudhuri and Man Habib (eds.), The Cambridge Economic History of India, c. 1200-
1750, Vol. 1, Delhi, 1982.
V. K. Jain, Trade and Traders in Western India AD 1000-1300, Delhi, 1989

17. 19
LESSON 3
REGIONAL STYLES OFARCHITECTURE
(8TH
TO 12TH
CENTURIES)
Madhu Trivedi
The period from eighth to twelfth centuries marks an important phase in the history of
art and architecture. In one respect it is an age of culmination and ultimate exhaustion of the
earliest tendencies and movements in architectural styles and forms. In another, it marks the ushering
of a new age which is particularly connected with the temple building. It is a creative and formative
age, associated with the foundation of the typical styles of Indian temple architecture. It was for
the reason that worship of Bramha, Vishnu and Shiva was becoming popular during the time. The
Alvar and Nayannar saints popularized the worship of Vishnu and Shiva respectively from the seventh
century onwards. Brahmanism had come to the forefront since the Gupta period. Idol worship
became a common feature of Hinduism. The images of Shiva and Vishnu, and some other gods
appeared for the first time in the free standing temples - the brick temple of Bhitargaon and Deogarh
in Jhansi. The chief diety appeared in the middle with his retainers all around, who are drawn
on the panel on a smaller scale to suggest distinction and hierarchy. During this periomany features
of Hinduism were incorporated in Buddhism.
Cave architecture
Rock-cut excavations represent an aspect of Indian architecture that had been characteristic of
earlier period. Most of these belong to the Buddhist faith, though Brahmanical and Jain establishments
of this type are not rare.
Buddhist caves
The rock-cut architecture of the Buddhists, as in the earlier period consists of two conventional
types - the chaitya hall (the shrine proper), and the sangharama or the vihar (the monastery). The most
notable groups are found in Ellora in Aurangabad, and also in Elephanta Island.
The cave architecture, especially of the chaitya hall retains the plan of its prototypes but with
extensive changes in the ornamentation of the fa9ade and in the designs of pillar in the interior. The
carvings and decoration are much richer in design and execution and except in some cases the emphasis
on wooden form and techniques had disappeared. The wealth of carving is not intended for decoration
only, but also for reducing the weight of the solid rock wherein the chaitya hall was excavated. The most
significant innovation was the wealth of figure sculptures both in the exterior as well as in the interior
space in contrast to the plain exteriors of the earlier period. In fact, there is an excess of figure sculpture.
However, the fa?ade undoubtedly is a further development of earlier times. Cave no. X in Ellora, known
as the Vishvakarma cave, represents one of the latest examples of the chaitya hall of the excavated type
and it marks a significant stage in the history of this kind of shrines.
At Ellora the excavations consist of three series of caves - Buddhist, Brahmanical, and Jain.
Amongst the Buddhist caves the three storied caves are the most imposing. It is noted for the beauty
of its fa9ade, rising to a height of nearly fifty feet, rich profusion of sculptures in the interior and the
balance and consistency of design.

18. 20
Brahamanical caves
The Brahamanical caves at Ellora date from about AD 650.These are sixteen in number. The
far famed Kailash (no. XV) is considered the most important. It is an extensive establishment entirely
excavated out of the rock in imitation of the celebrated Kailashnath temple or Rajasimhashvara at
Kanchipuram.
These caves are divided in three different types:
The first is represented by the Dashavatara cave which closely follows the design of the
Buddhist vihara and appears to be the earliest among the Brahamanical caves of the site and planned
in the rows of cells around a central court. However, it has a unmistakably Brahmanical connotation
in the form of a detached mandapa formed out of the rock in the centre of the courtyard.
In the second type, there is a variation that in it ‘the shrine proper forms distinct component
with a processional corridor around it.’ The second type is represented best by the Ravana ka khai
and Rameshwara caves. They indicate a parallel line of development in caves of the Buddhist and
Brahmanical religions.
In the third type, which appears to date from the second half of the eighth century AD, may
be recognized in the Dhumar Lena. It is the last and the finest in the series of the Brahamanical caves
in Ellora. It consists of a cruciform hall having more than one entrance to court and with a shrine
standing isolated within it. The Dhumar Lena is noted for the ‘gracefulness of its pillars and sculptures’
as well as ‘its architectural arrangement’.
The Brahmanical cave in the island of Elephanta near Bombay is similar to Dhunar Lena, in
general arrangement though much smaller and irregular. However, in the beauty and quality of its
sculpture it excells the Dhumar Lena; these are regarded as marvels of plastic art. It is to be noted that
Brahamanical cave excavations were inspired by the Buddhists. But their unsuitability for Brahamanical
worship of images was more and more felt and monolithic shrines became popular.
Jain caves
The Jain caves were ‘similar, in plan and other arrangements’to the Buddhist and Brahamanical
caves. The most notable group of Jain caves are to be found in Ellora and these are not earlier than
800 AD. Of these chhota Kailas, Indra Sabha, and Jagannath Sabha are important specimens.
With the Jain caves at Ellora the long persisting tradition of cave architecture cease for all
practical purposes. The rock-cut technique was given up in favour of the structural method which
provided immense scope to the builder.
Structural Buildings
Temples
The structural temples, which were constructed for the enshrinement of the deity, differ
with the cave temples in details of form and general appearance. Various types and forms were
experimented until significant forms were chosen for further elaboration and final crystallization.
It may be pointed out here that the temples constructed during the Gupta period heralded the
two important styles - Nagara and Dravida. The cruciform and the Rekha tower which form
the distinctive feature of the Nagara style already made appearance in the deshavtara temple
of Deogarh and the brick temple of Bhitargaon. The square shape of the Nagara style also

19. 21
originated during this period. Similarly we can also witness many characteristics of the Dravida
style.
Formation of the traditional temple style
The Indian Shilpashastra recognizes three main temple styles known as Nagara, Dravida
and Vesara. The Nagara style was prevalent in the region between Himalayas and the Vindhaya.
While the Dravida style flourished in that part of the country lying between the Krishna river and
cape Kanyakumari. The temples erected in this region are sharply distinguished from each other,
both in respect of ground plan and elevation. The Vesara style, also known as the Chalukyan style,
flourished between the vindhyas and the Krishna river. This style is hybrid one, borrowing elements
and features both from the Nagara and the Dravida style. It is difficult to make an idea of the
characteristics forms and features on the basis of the Shilpa texts and one has to depend on the
extent of the extant monuments.
The Nagara style
The Nagara style has its origin in the structural temples of the Gupta period, especially the
Dashavtara temple of Deogarh and the brick temple of Bhitargaon. A study of northern Indian
temples reveals two distinct features of the Nagara style - one in planning and other in elevation.
The plan is square with a number of gradual projections in the middle of each side which imparts
it a cruciform shape. In elevation it exhibits a tower (shikhara) gradually inclining towards in a
convex curve. The projections in the plan are also carried upwards to the top of the shikhara.
Thus, there is a strong emphasis on vertical lines in elevation. For this region it is also called the
rekha shikhara. By the eighth century the Nagara style emerges in its characteristic form. The
Nagara style exhibits distinct varieties in elaboration. The temple belonging to the Nagara style of
architecture may be seen from the Himalaya to the north of Bijapur district in the south, from the
Punjab in the west to Bengal to the east. As a result, there are local variations and ramifications
in the formal development of the style in the different regions. Such variations are cause by local
conditions, by different directions in development as well as assimilation of unrelated trends. However,
the cruciform plan and the curvilinear tower are common to every Nagara temple.
The Dravida style
The Dravida temple is an adaptation of the earlier storied of the Gupta temple, enriched
further by the addition of new elements in the matter of detail. The outstanding and the common
characteristics of the Dravida style is the pyramidal elevation of the tower (vimari), which consists
of a multiplication of storey after storey slightly reduced than the one below, ending in a domical
member, technically known as the stupi or stupica. The storey in the later period became more
and more compressed so much so that they are almost hidden under a profusion of details which
became characteristic of the subsequent evolution of the style. In plan the Dravida temple presents
a square chamber as the sanctum cell within the square enclosure serving as the pradakshina
(circumambulatory passage). The pillared halls and corridors, and the immense gopurams (gateways)
are the additions of the later date to the Dravida temples.

20. 22
The Vesara
The Vesara, also known as the Chalukan style owing to the fact that the Chalukas of Badami
constructed numerous temples, as many as about seventy in number from about the seventh century
onwards in this style. It has two principal components, the vimana and the mandapa in the fashion
of the Drayada style. Sometimes these temples have an additional open mandapa in front. The vimana
is ‘surmounted by a pyramidal tower of storied elevation with a dome-shaped crowning member’, while
the manadapa are covered with a flat roof supported on pillars. In later compositions the height of the
storied stages of the vimana are ‘compressed’ as may be found in the Dravida style. However, there
are some architectural features which show ‘an inspiration from the nagara shikhara’, especially the
‘ornamental niche motifs, repeated one above the other up the ascent of the tower stimulate the vertical
bands of the northern spire’. Another divergence from the Dravida style is that the mandapas are
usually wider than the vimanas. There seems to be blending of the Dravida and Nagara ‘conceptions
in the treatment of the exterior walls’. The walls are ‘broken up by ratha offset’ which is a characteristic
of the Nagara fashion. These are ‘further spaced at regular intervals by pilasters in accordance with
the usual Dravida mode’. Also, the temples of this style retain a distinct Dravida shape. According to
S. K. Saraswati the temples of this style ‘represent one of the most ornate and florid expressions of
Indian architecture.’
The style reaches its maturity and supreme expression in the twelfth century.According to Henry
Cousens the most significant temples of this style is the Kashivishveshvara at Lakhundi.5
Each doorway
is a perfect example of delicate and intricate chiselling and some of the bands are so undercut that they
resemble fine filigree or lace work. This temple has been rightly regarded as ‘one of the most eminent
production of decorative architecture’. These temples owe ‘their character more to the sculptors than
to the masons’.
Exotic type
Apart from the Nagara, Dravida, and Vesara styles there are types of structures which are
‘entirely exotic in shape or form’. Specimens of this style may be seen in Kashmir; Lalitaditya Muktapida
(AD 724- 769) inaugurated an era of building activity in the Kashmir valley.
The typical Brahmanical temple in Kashmir has a distinction of its own. It has a ‘distinctly un-
Indian appearance’ which is emphasized by its pillars, the treatment of wall-surface, and the elevation
of its superstructure. It is peripteral in composition (having a single row of pillars on all sides in the style
of the temples of ancient Greek). It is situated within a quadrangular court enclosed by a peristyle of
cells and approached by one or three porticoes. ‘The portico itself is a monumental composition and
the peristyle a broad and imposing conception in the fashion of the Buddhist establishments’. It has a
double pyramidal roof obviously derived from the usual wooden roofs common in Kashmir. The pillars
are fluted and surmounted with capitals of quasi-Doric order. One of the earliest and most impressive
monuments is the sun-temple of Martand, built by Lalitaditya and this appears to be the modeled for
the subsequent ones.6
5
For details see Henry Cousens, Architectural Antiquities of Western India, London, 1928, p. 17.
6
For details see R. C. Kak, Ancient monuments of Kashmir, London, 1933.; James Fergusson,
History of Indian and Eastern Artchitecture, London, p. 187; Percy Brown, Indian Architecture,

21. 23
Regional developments of the Nagara style
Orissa: Of all the developments of the Nagara style that of Orissa is one of the most remarkable. The
building activity centred round the sacred city of Bhuvaneshvara, a temple town which alone contains
hundreds of temples, large and small. According to Fergusson these temples form ‘one of the most
compact and homogeneous architectural groups in India’ and may be said to represent, to some extent
the ‘a pure form of the original Nagara style’. They remain nearest to the original archetype (model).
One important feature which imparts distinction to the Orissan temple is the fact that Orissa had its own
canon of architecture conformed by the local craftsmen. They refined and elaborated the plain early
form of the Nagara temple into a typically Orissan one. Beginning with triratha, the plan is divided
into the pancharatha, saptaratha, and even navaratha1
There was an extra emphasis on decorative
details which consisted of ‘rich and elegant mouldings, pilasters, niches and figures - human, animal, and
composite’. The majestic temple of Lingarqja at Bhuveneshwara represents the Orissan type of temple
in its full maturity and highly appreciated for its majestic grandeur, proportions, its elegant carvings, and
height and volume. The famous temple of Jagannatha is another impressive and massive example of
the typically Orissan style.
The celebrated sun temple at Konarka, built in theAD 1238-64, is a ‘noble conception initiated
by a master mind and executed and finished by a master architect1
and it represents the crystallized and
accumulated experience of several hundred years. The temple is designed in the form of a chariot,
drawn on exquisitely carved wheels drawn by a team of seven spirited horses. At Konarka the
extraordinary genius of the architect and sculptor were combined. There is a profusion of carving. The
intricate treatment of the walls with figures and decorative motifs of varied nature create the effect of
sculptural magnificence.
Central India: Temples in this region present significant varieties in contrast to the unilateral Orissan
type. One may notice the transition of the archaic shikhar form of the fifth century A D to the Nagara
form of the eighth century in this region. There are certain distinct traits of the central Indian temple:
(1) It is usually saptharatha in plan.
(2) There is a clustering of the anga-shikharas all around the body of the main tower which
imparts it the plasticity and volume.
(3) Invariably two amalakas crown the shikharas as well as those of the anga-shikharas;
it is a singular characteristic of the Central Indian temple.
(4) The vestibule (antarala) and pillared audience hall (mandapd) occupy an important place
in the regular temple scheme of this region.
(5) Columns and pillars have an important place in the architectural scheme. Roofs are
supported on pillars which are usually worked with exquisite carvings providing a richly
ornamented look to the interiors. These halls stand on high terrace.
The Kandaria mahadeo temple at Khajuraho represents the most notable creation of this style.
The Khajuraho temples, 30 temples in all large and small dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, and Jain tirthankaras,
were constructed between Ad 950 and 1050. In plan and elevation they are all alike and distinguished
by certain details.
Temples of circular shape and plan were also constructed in central India. This type is best
represented by a temple at Gurgi Masaun near Rewa which was constructed about the middle of the
tenth century.
7
The term ratha denotes vertical section.

22. 24
Rajputana: In plan, shape and its appearance the early Rajputana temples resembles the temples of
the Nagara style. The distinctive type of the early Rajputana temple differs very little from a typically
central Indian one. A clustered arrangement of the anga-shikharas all around the body of the main
tower is also a characteristic of the typical Rajputana temple. However, it lacks many of the features
of the central Indian type. In Rajputana the three-fold division (trirathd), an early characteristic of the
Nagara type was retained to the last. In other places we find pancharatha and saptaratha temples.
The disposition of pillars and toranas is a distinguishing feature of Rajputana temples also found in
Gujarat especially of later period. Another feature is the disposition of the pillars in the centre of the
mandapa hall supporting the shallow dome; this feature emerges in the eleventh century in the most
developed type of this region and represented best by the Jain temples of Mount Abu. These temples
are noteworthy for the exuberance of the ornamental details minutely wrought in white Makarana
marble. There is like ‘a shell-like treatment of marble’ as per as delicacy of the workmanship is
concerned. The temples of Adinath and Neminath, constructed in the 11th
and 12th
centuries, represent
the sculptural magnificence at its best, especially the carving in the domed ceiling which resembles
filigree work in metal.
Gujarat and Kathiawar: The development of the Nagara style in this region, to a very great extent,
is closely allied to that in Rajputana. This striking affinity was due to two geographical proximity as well
as due to the fact that the temple building in western India was confined to a hereditary class of temple
builders known as Salats. However, are some temples in Kathiawar which have some architectural
features which are not found in the Nagara style. For instance, a temple at Gop, considered to be the
oldest structural temple in the region, contain chaitya windows. It shows the continuity and combination
of the Buddhist and Brahmanical traditions as well as cave and structural temples.
Deccan: Temples of the Nagara style are found as far as south as the Krishna and Tungabhadra basin
and may be divided in two groups. One is confined to southern Deccan while the temples of other
groups are scattered over the western part of the Upper Deccan mainly in Khandesh and its adjacent
area. The temples in this region are not a pure representation of the Nagara style; they represent two
movements in respect of stylistic progress - the Nagara and Dravida. In fact the Krishna-Tungbhadra
basin seems to be a meeting ground of the two well defined Nagra and Dravida styles. The Chalukan
style originated from the blending of the two and in spite of its hybrid origin it maintained its distinctness.
Upper belt of northern India: Very few temples survive in the regions of the upper belt of northern
India. One major reason was the iconoclast fury of the Muslim conquerors.Afew dilapidated monuments
in brick in the Utter Pradesh are found to exhibit the characteristics of the early Nagara design for their
preference for a circular shape. However, in the Himalayan region are found several temples decidedly
of the early Nagara conception. In west Bengal and the adjoining region also the same conception is
illustrated by a few monuments.
In the absence of any magnificent regional manifestations or style it is not easy to trace the
developments of the Nagara conception of temple building in any of these regions like the Orissan, the
Central Indian, the Solanki, or the Deccani.
Reading List
Henry Cousens, Architectural Antiquities of Western India, London, 1928.
James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, vol. II.
R. C. Kak, Ancient monuments of Kashmir, London, 1933.
R. C. Majumdar & others, The Struggle for Empire, vol. V, Bombay, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan.

23. 25
LESSON 4
POLITICAL, SOCIALAND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
(8TH-12TH CENTURIES)
Political condition
India after the death of Harsha (606-647) saw the rapid disintegration of his empire. The whole
empire of Harsha, which covered a large part of northern India, was split up into numerous kingdoms.
The common feature of these kingdoms was the rapid growth of a system which has been called by
the modern scholars as feudalism.
Feudalism originated in the Gupta period. In the subsequent years which followed the eclipse of the
Gupta empire the spread of feudalism was quite noticeable and during this period “military governorship
was conferred on important chiefs.” We are further told : “In the age of Harsha and of imperial Kanauj,
high ranking civil as well military offices came to be bestowed upon persons holding feudal title.” Thus,
feudalism, which became a dominant productive system during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, had
originated and spread much before the invasions of the Turks.
Rise of Feudalism
In the period under review feudalism became a universal phenomenon, particularly in Northern
India. Recently two outstanding research works, Indian Feudalism by R.S. Sharma, and Society and
Culture in the Northern India by Prof. B.N.S Yadav, have thrown ample light on the various aspects
of feudalism. B.P. Mazumdar’s The Socio-Economic History of Northern India also provides us valuable
information on this problem. B.P. Mazumdar calls this period “as the hey day of feudal anarchy.” The
writings of D.N. Jha and K.M. Shrimali also deserve our attention.
One of the significant features of the prevailing political system was the complete fragmentation of
political power from top to bottom. The basic changes in the economic structure and relationship did
have their implications on the political structure. With the shifting of economic power to the vassals the
supreme political authority i.e., the king was not in a commanding position to concentrate all political
power in his hand. The result was obvious K.M. Shrimali rightly points out :
“The growing bardic sycophancy, however, had begun to create an aura around kings, treating them
as rulers of rulers and ascribing divinity to them. As a result of this image building the king was
increasingly becoming more of a private person than the real head of the state.”
The vassal was usually called as samanta, rauta, thakkur, etc. The vassal was granted land by the
ruler. In lieu of this land grant he was expected to send military contingent to the ruler. Apart from this
obligation the samanta was left free with full powers to administer his territories. If the samanta remained
loyal to the fuller and committed to his military obligations there was no interference from the above.
However, the division of political power was not restricted to this level alone. Feudal lords had their
own sub-vassals. The increase in the number and power of these samantas and sub-samantas weakened
the central authority. It resulted in the emergence of a political system which deprived the ruler of
administrating his territory directly and effectively. Prof. Mohammad Habib thus remarks :
“the strength of Hindustan was divided among a multitude of factious Rais, Sub Rais, local chiefs
and village headmen, between whom anything like sensible co-operation was impossible.”
Weak Administration
With the emergence of a new political order, which saw the sharing and shifting of political authority,
the need of making the central administration really imposing was no longer there. The role of centre was

24. 26
rapidly marginalized.As already stated the land was assigned to the samantas, which provided a solid
base for their political power; the rulers were reduced to a nominal position and virtually lost the power
to intervene effectively in the affairs of the territories that were under the control of the samantas.
Whatever structure that existed at the top was retained nominal. Under these prevailing conditions
nothing was done to gear up the administrative machinery. The more powerful rulers concentrated their
energies on settling scores with their neighbours. Continuous warfare did not give them any opportunity
to look seriously into the administrative problems.
Left practically free the samantas had framed their own rules and regulations and conducted the
affairs of their territories in their own way. The multiplicity of the administration within a state created
a complex situation : all this finally led to the weakening of the entire administrative machinery.
Out-dated Military System
Moreover, the approach of the Indian rulers to the military system was out-dated. While the Turks
had raised well-trained standing army consisting mainly of the cavalry the Indian rulers were religiously
sticking to the traditional methods of warfare.
The army of an Indian ruler consisted largely of the troops supplied by his vassals or the samantas.
Obviously such an army supplied from various pockets could not work in cohesion in a battlefield. The
idea of raising a standing army remained more or less alien to the Indian rulers. Further, these rulers
neglected their cavalry. A fragmented and slow-moving army was hardly an answer to the well-trained
horses of the Turks.
Social Condition
The society was divided into exploiters and exploited. The exploiters constituted the ruling class.
They controlled the means of production (land) and lived a prosperous and luxurious life. The exploited
were the toiling masses, who worked day and night only to lead a life of semi-starvation or near
starvation. Besides this a peculiar feature of Indian society was the caste system.
Caste System
In the initial state of its development perhaps the caste system was not socially very rigid. But in
due course of time the caste system shunned its flexibility and it had become stiff. This is specially true
in the case of early medieval India. This change took place perhaps because of the intensification of
the contradictions between the upper castes and the lower castes. The former tried to make the caste-
system more and more suited to their class interests. But on the other hand the discontent of lower
castes resulted in popular movements. The role of Buddhism is quite significant. It showed to the people
an alternative path, which was free from caste hierarchy and rituals. Consequently, it had gained
widespread popularity.
Thus, for decades Buddhism played a useful role against the oppressive mechanism of the caste
system. But in the post-Harsha period Brahaminism had once again established its supremacy. This was
possible because of certain socio-economic changes. The emerging landed aristocracy (feudal lords)
patronized the Brahmins which proved more suitable and convenient to their class interests. The revival
of Brahaminism resulted in the rigidity of the caste system. Though the caste system has retained its
essential features in the course of Indian history but never it appeared in such an ugly form as we see
after the mid-seventh century.
Brahmins at the Apex
The Brahmins, who theoretically, occupied the highest position in the caste hierarchy, benefitted
from the changes that took place in the post-Harsha period. Taking the full advantages of the changing

25. 27
circumstances, which saw the emergence of feudal lords or vassals who extended their patronage to
them, the Brahmins tightened their grip on the socio-religious order of the day.
Romila Thapar aply remarks: “The brahman really came into his own in the post-Gupta period when
Buddhism began to decline and the brahman’s religious authority was backed both by an economic base
and by his indispensability for the legitimation of power.” (The Past and Prejudice, p.29). The Brahmins
were unscrupulous enough to distort learning and education which were used to bestow numerous
privileges on the members belonging to their own-caste.
The Brahmins claimed “reverence from all varnas by the mere fact of birth, expounding the duty
of all classes, freedom from death sentence, exemption from taxes, precedence on all roads, lesser
punishment for certain offences in comparison with the other castes, a shorter period of mourning, etc.
Alberuni says that “if a Brahmin killed a man, the former had only to fast, pray and give alms.”
Position of the Kshatriyas
Next to the Brahmins stood the Kshatriyas in the caste system. They were master of the land, and
generally .the rulers belonged to this caste, The system which they inherited narrowed their outlook.
Continuous warfare became their main preoccupation. They made war a social virtue. To quote professor
Romila Thapar:
“war became a grand pageant, and death on the battlefield the highest possible honour.
Heroic virtues were instilled into the child from birth and a man who shirked fighting was held
/contempt....... women, too, were taught to die, should her husband be killed.”
Making war a social virtue the Kshatriyas entered into an era of senseless military confrontation
even on a slight pretext. Continuous warfare involving indiscriminate killing certainly weakened the
structure over which they were sitting.
In their private life the Kshatriyas did not observe simplicity since they owned means of production
(land) and wielded political power. Like contemporary ruling classes they led a luxurious life and did
not hesitate to spend liberally. Many of them used to indulge in reckless drinking of wine, others led
a highly sensual life. B.P. Mazumdar observes : “to a modern man the kings as well as their court-Poets,
who composed the laudatory verses for copper-plates and inscriptions, appear to be shameless. They
took pride not only in capturing the womenfolk of defeated countries but also in openly proclaiming
before the world their dalliance with them.” As far as the economic conditions were cencerned the
Kshatriyas generally lived a happy and prosperous life. All this was possible because they owned land
and could exploit it to the maximum for maintaining their social as well as political status.
Declining Status of the Vaishayas
The social condition of other castes which were placed in the lower order was far from satisfactory.
The position of the Vaishayas, who constituted the business community received a setback. This was
firstly because of the emergence of feudalism and secondly to the revival of Brahaminism. The former
had affected its economic position, while the latter gave a blow to its rising social status. It is interesting
to note that Alberuni did not find any difference between the Vaishayas and Sudras. This may be an
exaggeration but it certainly shows the declining position of the Vaishayas in the Society.
Commenting on the condition of the Vaishayas Prof. B.N.S. Yadav points out:
“As in the feudal societies, the merchant class ‘was here also generally scorned by the elite. In the
areas under the observation of Alberuni the distinction between the Vaishayas and the Sudras had to
a considerable extent, faded away by the 11th century A.D. In the wake of the rise and growth of the
feudal tendencies and the consequent economic decline during the first phase of the early medieval

26. 28
period the social and economic status of the Vaishayas generally suffered decline.” (Society and Culture
in Northern India in the Twelfth Century, p. 38)
Plight of the Sudras
The sudras were placed in the last or the fourth category of the varna system. They comprised of
“the majority of agricultural labourers and petty peasants, artisans and craftsmen, and also some
vendors, manual workers, servants and attendants, and those following low occupation. They were
divided into several caste groups.” But the overwhelming section of the Sudras was engaged in cultivation
and agricultural labour.”
The sudras led a miserable life. Their economic condition was deplorable. Also they were despised
by the upper castes. Education was barred to them. Any violation of the restrictions, imposed by the
Brahmins, meant death or severe punishment for sudras. Sometimes the sudras could organize themselves
to liberate themselves, as evident from the “armed revolts” of the Kaivartas in Bengal in the time of
Mahipala and Rampala. But these instances however inspiring were rare.
Antyaja or Untouchables
The most miserable condition was of those who were not given any place, even the lowest, in the
caste-system. They were kept outside the caste hierarchy. They were not even permitted to live within
the city-walls or inside the fortified villages. The upper most of these groups were termed as antyaja
or untouchables while the rest of the groups were given no label. Alberuni mentions following eight
groups of the antyaja.
1. Fuller of Washerman, 5. Sailor,
2. Shoemaker, 6. Fisherman,
3. Juggler, 7. Hunter or wild animals and birds
4. Basket and shield maker, 8. Weavers.
Besides these groups Alberuni refers to other groups who were the worst victims of the caste
system. They were hadi, doma, chandala and bhadatu. They lived an awful life. They were responsible
for looking after the sanitation of the villages and other “dirty work” but they lived a very miserable life.
Untouchability continued to receive sanction from the contemporary scholars. The sudras, antyaja
and chandala etc., continued to be regarded as untouchables. Kalhana’s Rajatarangani reveals that “the
horror of untouchability had increased in his age.”
Impact of Social Organization
A social organization based on caste system was bound to create an unhealthy and suffocating
atmosphere. It generated a narrow outlook and petty mentality in the ruling class, which was prone to
reject anything which was reasonable, rational and scientific. The contemporary Indian society had
become insular. Alberuni thus writes :
“The Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no king like theirs, no
religion like theirs, no science like theirs.”
This self-glorifying and conceited attitude had a serious effect on the contemporary society which
refused to grow and turned into a store of superstition and prejudices.
Commenting on the social conditions prevailing in the contemporary medieval society on the eve of
the Turkish invasion Dr. P. Saran remarks :

27. 29
“This spirit of exclusive superiority was created and maintained by a process of intellectual fraud,
in as much as almost the entire literature of the period was utilised for this purpose and the masses were
asked to follow it blindly in the name of Holy Writ, to question whose authority was an unpardonable
sin.”
During the early medieval period we find the beginning of child marriage and sati system. Moreover,
widow remarriage had become a thing of past. Commenting on the prevailing conditions in the early
medieval period Prof. Mohammad Habib makes the following remarks:
“This division of Indian society into castes and sub-castes with impossible barriers between them,
and the principle of discrimination as the basis of society, could not fail to lead to the unhappiest results.
Indian culture had once been on the offensive, it had penetrated into the heart of Central Asia in the
form of Buddhism and it had also gone to the islands of the Pacific Ocean. But for centuries before
the Ghorian invasion Indian culture had been on retreat. Within the country itself the Thakur class with
its monopoly of power had completely alienated the workers and peasants.”
The social conditions thus prevailing in the period under our study created a wide gulf between the
rulers and the ruled. Prof. D.D. Kosambi aptly remarks, “.... the people had no interest preserving their
rulers”. Consequently, the masses did not bother to rise against the Turks. The indifference thus shown
by the common people mainly facilitated the victory of the Turks against the rulers of India. No system
can last for long without keeping the confidence of the toiling people.
Economic Condition
The most significant economic features of the period under our study were as follows :
(i) Self-sufficient village economy,
(ii) feudalization of land system,
(iii) decline in trade and commerce.
Self-sufficient Village Economy
The self-sufficient village economy means that production is restricted to meet the immediate need
of a village community. In other .words, we may say that production was essentially for the purpose
of local consumption and did not intend to meet the requirements of a wider market. For performing
the task of production a village contained in itself various component groups of workers, wherein
worker in the group was assigned a duty, which was determined by the fact of his birth. The groups
of workers usually consisted of peasants, blacksmiths, potters, cobblers, etc. Thus the village was self-
sufficient for the daily needs and services. This was indeed a significant and important feature of the
economy of India during the period under our study, and remained so down to the nineteenth century.
However, we should also note that self-sufficient village economy does not mean that it was entirely
a closed system. We have important exceptions, as noted by Prof. D.D. Kosambi, like commodity
production in metals, salts, coconuts, cotton, tambula (pan), areca nuts, etc. Moreover, the villages
existing on the seashores and very near to the towns differed in their economic activities with their
counterparts.
Feudalization of Land System
The second important feature of the early medieval period was the feudalization of land. As already
stated the process of feudalization of land had originated in the Gupta period itself. It continued to
flourish in the territories under the rule of Harsha (606-647), but it became a universal phenomenon
from the ninth century onwards. This new system led to the rise of class of landowners who stood

28. 30
between the state and the peasantry. These landowners or feudal lords are referred in the contemporary
literature as samants, rautas, thakkurs etc.
The landowners or feudal lords obviously occupied a key position in the feudal order. The landowners
shared the political power with the rulers. And this new relationship acquired a special significance in
the emerging economic structure. Hence onwards, it was not the ruler at the top who controlled the
destiny of his people but feudal lords who kept the entire population under subjugation in their respective
territories by virtue of their economic power. This hold on economic productivity gave them enough
resources to maintain their military strength. In order to meet their personal and military expenditures
they not only taxed the peasantry heavily but exploited them in numerous other ways.
Under feudalism exploitation of the basic producer, i.e., agricultural labourers and peasants continued.
The basic producers were condemned to lead a life of utter poverty almost bordering on semistarvation.
Commenting on their miserable economic condition Dr. B.P. Mazumdar points out :
“Their needs were very few, they-did not aspire for luxuries; they earned enough only for two
square meals a day, one or two pieces of cloth to hide their nakedness and some kind of shelter over
their head. Contemporary literature shows that even these were not available to many.”
Moreover, continuous warfare and deterioration of law and order contributed further to make the
life of peasants more miserable and insecure.
However, certain scholars have tried to show that India was a rich country when it was attacked
by the Turks. To prove this contention they cite examples of the temples which possessed fabulous
wealth. The concentration of wealth in the hands of a few individuals or institutions, does not mean that
the country was prosperous. The economic position of a country should be judged by the standard of
living of its common people, the toiling masses. In this respect on the basis of the evidences in the
contemporary literature it can be said without any hesitation that the toiling masses led a life of semi-
starvation.
Decline in Trade and Commerce
The third important feature of the economic life was the decline in trade and commerce. The
emergence of self-sufficient village economy and feudalization of land adversely affected trade and
commerce. Particularly, the smaller merchants and traders were squeezed by “innumerable restrictions
and imposts, levied by a host of thakkurs, Rais and other varieties.” Moreover the chaotic political
conditions in turn also hit trade and commerce of the country and restricted its economic growth. All
this contributed to the slackening of the economic development of the various contemporary kingdoms
of the early medieval India.