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Material culture and social formation in ancient India, Study notes of History

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MATERIAL CULTURE
AND SOCIAL FORMATIONS
IN ANCIENT INDIA
RAM SHARAN SHARMA
M
This book is mainly the outcome of a two-year Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship (1970-72) awarded to the
author in 1969 by the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund
© RAM SHARAN SHARMA 1983
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, without permission
First published 1983 by
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MATERIAL CULTURE

AND SOCIAL FORMATIONS

IN ANCIENT INDIA

RAM SHARAN SHARMA

M

This book is mainly the outcome of a two-year Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship (1970-72) awarded to the author in 1969 by the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund

© RAM SHARAN SHARMA 1983

All rights reserved. No part of this publication

may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

means, without permission

First published 1983 by

MACMILLAN INDIA LIMITED

Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras

Associated companies throughout the world

SBN 33390 416 8

Published by S. G. Wasani for Macmillan India Limited,

4 Community Centre, Naraina Industrial Area, Phase I

New Delhi 110 028

Printed by T. K. Sengupta at Macmillan India Press,

Madras 600 041

Contents

ABBREVIATIONS ix

ROMAN EQUIVALENTS OF NAGARI LETTERS xi

PREFACE xiii

INTRODUCTION xv

I. Problems of Social Formations in Early India -- 1

'No theory no history' 1; Peasant phase 2; The problem of

status 4; Considerations of kinship 5; Marxist anthropology 6;

Notions of impurity 8; Caturvarga and religion 8;'Elitist'

The same locale of the later Vedic texts and the Painted Grey

Ware culture 56; Identical time-bracket for the PGW culture

and later Vedic texts 57; Advent of iron and its use mainly for

war and hunting 59; Ploughing, cereals and non-vegetarian

food 60; PGW level pots and hearths 62; Material equipment

of the PGW-iron phase 64

VI. Contents

V. Material Setting and Social Formations in the -- 69

Indo-Gangetic Divide and Upper Gangetic Basin

(c. 1000-500 B.C.)

Migration and spread of PGW sites 69; Agriculture and settle-

ments 70; Little use of iron for production 71; Overriding clan

rights in land 73; Vaisya kinsmen reduced to tribute payers by

chiefs and priests 74; Nature of collection from the peasants

76; Sudras, a small serving order 78; Value of rituals to priests

and warriors 79; Conflict for sharing the social surplus 80; Pre-

dominance of priests and the reasons for ritualism 82; The

class and the state not firmly established 83; Little gap between

the prince and the peasant 84; Notes 85

VI. Productive Forces and their Social Implications -- 89

in the Age of the Buddha in the Middle Gangetic

Basin

The extent and climate of the middle Gangetic plains 89;

The nature of the Pali and Sanskrit texts 90; North Black

Polished ware archaeology 91; Role of iron in social and

material life 92; Literary and archaeological evidence for

the iron ploughshare 93; Causes of the paucity of ancient iron

tools in eastern UP and Bihar 93; Paddy transplantation 96;

Forest clearance, and widespread settlements as shown by

NBP sites 99j Contrast between NBP and pre-NBP settlements

102; Number and spread of NBP sites 104; Mud and wooden

structures, and the advent of towns 106; More social surplus,

unequal distribution of land, dependent labour, and the varna

and the state mechanism 107; Remedies for social inequality

109; Nots 110

VII. Material Milieu of the Birth of Buddhism -- 117

Wide use of iron and plough agriculture in eastern UP

and Bihar 117; Pre-iron culture 188;Cattle killing in Vedic sac-

rifices 119; Cattle indispensable to new agriculture 120; Bud- dhist attack on sacrifices 121; Urbanism and trade 123; Atti-

tudes towards moneylending 124;Town life favoured by

Buddhism 126; The status of the brahmanas challenged by

the ksatriyas 127; Middle Gangetic material life and the socio-

economic nature of Buddhism 127;Renunciation helped and

hindered by the new socio-economic pattern 128; New elements

in material life and Buddhist teachings for lay followers 130;

MrvSria and ordinary people 131; Notes 131

Trends of Social Evolution in the Epics -- 135

Agriculture constricted by technology 161; Common use of

iron, clearance, cultivation and settlements in the middle Gan-

getic plains 162; Dependent labour, taxpaying peasants and the rise of the mahajanapadas 163; Political economy of the

varna mechanism 164; Buddhist boost to trade, urbanism and

field agriculture 164; Traces of tribal and of class/state socie-

ties in the epics 165.; Cattle herding and booty capture not suf-

ficient for creating varnas and janapadas 165; Food produc-

ing economy and rise of big chiefs and priests 166; State for-

mation and social stratification in post-Vedic times 166;

Notes 167

Appendices

I. DATING THE VEDIC TEXTS II. NOTES ON MAPS -- 168

II. NOTES OF MAPS -- 172

III. RADIOCARBON DATES FOR THE UPPER GANGETIG -- 178

PAINTED GREY WARE—IRON SITES

IV. RADIOCARBON DATES FOR SITES YIELDING IRON -- 182

OBJECTS IN THE MIDDLE GANGETIC PLAINS IN C. PRE-

300 B.C. TIMES

V. PRE-300 B.C. SITES WITH IRON ARTIFACTS, NBP AND -- 186

OTHER WARES IN THE MIDDLE GANGETIC PLAINS

BIBLIOGRAPHY -- 194

INDEX -- 205

Maps

1. THE INDO-GANGETIC DIVIDE AND

THE UPPER GANGETIC PLAINS -- facing p. 56

  1. EXCAVATED PAINTED GREY WARE SITES -- facing p. 69
  2. PHYSICAL MAP OF THE MIDDLE GANGETIC ZONE -- facing p. 89
  3. SITES WITH IRON IN PRE-300 B.C. TIMES IN THE

MIDDLE GANGETIC ZONE -- facing p. 94

  1. EARLY NBP SITES IN THE MIDDLE GANGETIC ZONE -- facing p. 104

NOTES

I. Anthony Giddens, Central Problems in Social Theory, London,

1979, pp. 162-3 (modified) quoted with approval in Gregor

McLennan, Marxism and the Methodologies of History, London, 1981,

p.56.

2- Ibid.

  1. The practice of primogeniture is typical of the Rajput estates.
  2. Such a custom prevails among the Jats. The saying goes that a

Rajput is born to consolidate an estate, and a Jat is born to

lose it. I owe this information to Dr I. S. Marwah.

ABBREVIATIONS

Adi P. -- Adi Parva

Ait. Br. -- Aitareya Brdhmana

AN -- Anguttara Nikaya

Anu P. --Anusasana Parva

Ap. Dh. S.-- Apastamba Dharmasutra

(also Apas.)

APIIAI -- Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in

Ancient India, R. S. Sharma

AV -- Atharva Veda

Baudha. Dh. S. -- Baudhayana Dharmasutra

Baudha. Gr-. S.-- Baudhayana Grhyasutra

CDIAL -- A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan

Languages, R. L. Turner, London, Oxford

University Press, 1966

Cr. Edn.-- Critical Edition of the Mahabharata, ed.

various hands, Poona, Bhandarkar Oriental

Institute, 1927-66.

DN -- Digha Nikaya

Ed.-- Edited by

Edn.-- Edition

HOS -- Harvard Oriental Series

IAR -- Indian Archaeology—A Review, New Delhi

Fat -- Fdtaka

FS -- Faya-Sarnhita redacted by Keshavram

K. Shastree

Katya. Sr. S.-- Katyayana Srautasutra

KS (also Ka 5.)-- Kathaka Samhita

Khadira Gr. S.-- Khadira Grhyasutra

MN -- Majjhima Nikaya

NBP -- North Black Polished (Ware)

PED-- Pali-English Dictionary, T. W. Rhys Davids and

William Stede, London, Pali Text Society,

1921

PGW-- Painted Grey Ware

PHAI-- Political History of Ancient India, H. C. Ray-

chaudhuri, seventh edition, Calcutta, 1972

PTS -- Pali Text Society

RV -- Rg Veda

SN -- Samyutta Nikaya

Sankh. Gr. S. -- Sankhayana Grhyasutra

Roman Equivalents of Nagari Letters

a a i i

u u r c

ai o au

k kh g gh

n c ch j

jh n t th

d dh n t

th d dh n

p ph b bh

m y r l

v s’ s s

h m h

thank Professor D. N. Jha and Professor R. L. Shukla. Finally,

I would wish to thank my wife Malina for constant encourage-

ment.

R. S. SHARMA

Department of History

University of Delhi Delhi-l10 007

3 November 1982

Introduction

Depending on their social milieu, intellectual heritage and personal

experience social scientists have produced several abstractions to

comprehend historical developments. The real dispute is about

'the prime movers' of history. The present study is based on the, assumption that the mode of production involving the theory of

surplus leading to class formation continues to be the best working

hypothesis, notwithstanding countless assertions to the contrary.

The effort to eliminate class and surplus has introduced 'elite',

'status','hierarchy', 'decision-making', etc., in their place. The

theory of surplus is rejected on the ground that people do not

produce more on their own but are compelled to put in more work or more people are mobilized for work. Whatever motives

be assigned for producing more—and this will differ from society

to society—almost all types of serious investigators admit that

only extra produce can support wholetime administrators, pro-

fessional soldiers, full-time priests, craftsmen and other similar

specialists who do not produce their food themselves. The argu-