Vital Villages Thriving Towns

The villages of the northern India were inhabited by many groups of people. The village headmen were known as grama bhojaka. Most of the time the position was held by the same family. Grama bhojaka carried out multifarious functions in the village. He was responsible for maintaining the law and order and settling the disputes among the people.

Arikamedu was an important trade center around 2200 and 1900 years ago. According to Wheeler Arikamedu was a Tamil fishing village which was formerly a major Chola port dedicated to bead making and trading with Roman traders.

Kushanas kings ruled in the 1st C.E. Mathura was their capital as it was situated on the cross roads of the trade routes. Kushanas had the control over the profitable silk route, a branch of which passes through Mathura in India. Mathura, therefore emerge as a prominent town as craft and trading center. The worship of Lord Krishna is still popular in Mathura and it is one of the pilgrimage centres for Hindu devotees.

The pottery design got its name due to its predominant presense in the northern parts of the sub continent. The pottery design was popular in the later Vedic period. Some sites where the NBPW have been found are Mahasthan, Chandraketugarh, Bangarh, etc.

During the period between 200 BCE to 300 BCE India enjoyed a good deal of prosperity. The number of artisans and craftsmen increased particularly in cities. The growth in art and craft led to specialization and greater technical skill in certain spheres of production.

Aqueducts were huge channels to supply water. The Roman emperors built these aqueducts to bring water to the city for the baths, fountains and toilets.

Grama bhojaka was the village headman. He was the largest landowner. He did not cultivate his own land and had slaves and hired workers to work on his fields. The King had given him the duty to collect taxes from the village. He functioned as a judge. He also had to perform the duties of a policeman. This added to his prestige and made him powerful.

The kings and kingdoms could not have existed without the support of prosperous villages. Various effective steps were taken to increase the production.

• New tools and system of transplantation was introduced.
• Apart from these, system of irrigation was also used.
• Irrigation works that were built during this time included canals, wells, tanks and artificial lakes

The following evidence tell us about the life in early cities:

• Sculptures used to decorate railings, pillars and gateways of buildings. They depicted scenes of peoples’ lives in towns and villages, as well as in the forest.
• Accounts of travellers and sailors who visited these early cities
• Rows of pots or ceramic rings arranged one on top of the other which seems to have been used as toilets in some cases and as drains and garbage dumps in others have been found by archaeologists.

Some of the earliest works in Tamil are known as sangam literature. They were composed around 2300 years ago. These texts were called Sangam because they were composed and compiled in assemblies, known as sangam, of poets that were held in the city of Madurai.

The superintendent could employ widows, young women who were differently abled, nuns, mothers of courtesans, retired women servants of the king and women who had retired from service in temples. The women were paid according to the quality and quantity of work.

In the northern part of the country, there were women and men without land, working on the fields owned by others, they were known as dasa and karmakara.

The three different kinds of people living in most villages in the southern parts of the subcontinent or the Tamil region were the landowners known as vellala, ordinary ploughmen known as uzhavar, and landless labourers such as slaves known as kadaisiyar and adimai.

Jatakas were stories composed by ordinary people and then written down and preserved by the Buddhist monks.

Each town was famous for a particular activity. Some were religious centres, other was trading centres and yet other was administrative centres.

Archaeologists, while looking for evidence for fine pottery, found the Northern Black Polished Ware. It got this name since it was found in the northern part of the subcontinent, was black in colour and had a fine luster.

The earliest coins which were in use for about 500 years were punch marked coins. They are called as punch marked coins because the designs were punched on the metal such as silver and copper.

The archaeological findings include a massive brick structure, pottery such as jars, stamped red-glazed pottery from Mediterranean regions. It is known as Arretine Ware, named after an Italian city. Roman lamps, glassware and gems have also been found.

During this period (2500-2000 BC) many craft persons and merchants formed associations known as shrenis. Their function was to provide training, procure material, and distribute the finished product. Then shrenis of merchants organised the trade. Shrenis also functioned as banks where rich people deposited their money.

Building of irrigation work was the other important factor resulting in the increase of agricultural produce. Kings would have encouraged these as increase in agricultural produce meant that there was enough and surplus food for the people. Also tax on agricultural produce was a major source of state revenue. Hence more production led to more revenue.

Hunters, fishermen and those who followed life threatening occupations were not allowed to form Shrenis

Wine and olive oil were imported from Rome via Arikamedu. Textile, beads, semi-precious stones, glass and shell bangles were the major exports.