SOCIAL LE - 8 HISTORY BY ABHIRAM.K SESSION - 1

SOCIAL LE - 8 HISTORY

BY ABHIRAM.K 6-B CREEK VENUS

TOPICS TO COVER - 1

• Prabhakar at the blacksmith’s shop

• Iron tools and agriculture

• Other steps to increase production:

  irrigation

• Who lived in the villages?

• The earliest Tamil compositions

• Finding out about cities: stories, travellers,

  sculpture and archaeology

• The clever poor man

TOPICS TO COVER - 2

• The Story of Barygaza

  (the Greek name for Bharuch)

• Punch-marked Coins

• Coins

• Other means of exchange

• Cities with many functions

• Crafts and crafts persons

• Northern Black

  Polished Ware (NBPW)

TOPICS TO COVER - 3

• Rules for spinning and weaving

• A closer look — Arikamedu

• Elsewhere

Prabhakar at the blacksmith’s shop

• Prabhakar sat watching the smiths at the local shop.

  There was a small bench on which iron tools like axes

  and sickles were laid out, ready for sale. A bright fire

  was burning, and two men were heating and beating

  metal rods into shape. It was very hot and noisy, and yet

  it was fascinating to watch what was happening.

Iron tools and agriculture

• We often take the use of iron for granted today.

  Things made of iron (and steel) are a part of our

  daily lives. The use of iron began in the

  subcontinent around 3000 years ago. Some of

  the largest collections of iron tools and weapons

  were found in the megalithic burials, about which

  you read in Chapter 5.

• Around 2500 years ago, there is evidence for

  the growing use of iron tools. These included axes

  for clearing forests, and the iron ploughshare. As

  we had seen (Chapter 6) the ploughshare was

  useful for increasing agricultural production.

Other steps to increase production:

irrigation

• The kings and kingdoms you have been reading

  about could not have existed without the support

  of flourishing villages. While new tools and the

  system of transplantation (Chapter 6) increased

  production, irrigation was also used. Irrigation

  works that were built during this time included

  canals, wells, tanks, and artificial lakes.

Who lived in the villages?

• There were at least three different kinds of people

  living in most villages in the southern and

  northern parts of the subcontinent. In the Tamil

  region, large landowners were known as vellalar,

  ordinary ploughmen were known as uzhavar, and

  landless labourers, including slaves, were known

  as kadaisiyar and adimai.

• In the northern part of the country, the village

  headman was known as the grama bhojaka.

  Usually, men from the same family held the

  position for generations. In other words, the post

  was hereditary. The grama bhojaka was often the

  largest landowner. Generally, he had slaves and

  hired workers to cultivate the land. Besides, as

  he was powerful, the king often used him to collect

  taxes from the village. He also functioned as a

  judge, and sometimes as a policeman.

  Apart from the gramabhojaka, there were other

  independent farmers, known as grihapatis, most

  of whom were smaller landowners.

  
  

• And then there

  were men and women such as the dasa

  karmakara, who did not own land, and had to

  earn a living working on the fields owned by others.

  In most villages there were also some crafts

  persons such as the blacksmith, potter, carpenter

  and weaver.

The earliest Tamil compositions

• Some of the earliest works in Tamil, known as

  Sangam literature, were composed around 2300

  years ago. These texts were called Sangam because

  they were supposed to have been composed and

  compiled in assemblies (known as sangams) of poets that were held in the city of Madurai (see Map 7, page 113).

  The Tamil terms mentioned above are found in Sangam literature.

  
  

Finding out about cities: stories, travellers, sculpture and archaeology

• You may have heard of the Jatakas. These were stories that were probably composed by ordinary people, and then written down and preserved by Buddhist monks. Here is part of a Jataka story, which tells us how a poor man gradually became rich.

The Clever Man - 1

• Once upon a time, there was a clever poor young man who lived in a city. His only resource was a dead rat. He started off by selling it for a coin to a hotel, for their cat.

• Then one day, there was a storm. The king’s garden was littered with branches and leaves, and the gardener was at a loss as to how to clear the mess. The young man offered to clean the garden if he could keep the wood and leaves. The gardener agreed at once.

• The young man rounded up all the children who were playing, with

  an offer of sweets for every stick and leaf that they could collect. In no time, every scrap had been neatly piled near the entrance. Just then, the king’s potter was on the look out for fuel with which to bake his pots. So he took the whole lot and paid the young man for it.

The Clever Man - 2

• Our young man now thought of another plan. He carried a jar full of water to the city gate, and offered water to 500 grass cutters. They were pleased and said: “You have done us a good turn. Tell us, what can we do for you?”

• He replied, “I’ll let you know when I need your help.” He then made friends with a trader. One day, the trader told him:

  “Tomorrow, a horse dealer is coming to town with 500 horses.” Hearing this, our young man went back to the grass cutters. He said: “Please give me a bundle of grass each, and don’t sell your grass till mine is sold.” They agreed, and gave him 500 bundles of grass.

The Clever Man - 3

• When the horse dealer could not buy grass anywhere else, he purchased the young man’s grass for a thousand coins. …

• Do The Questions That Gave In Text Book

• We can use other kinds of evidence to find out about life in some of these early cities. Sculptors carved scenes depicting peoples’ lives in towns and villages, as well as in the forest. Many of these sculptures were used to decorate railings, pillars and gateways of buildings that were visited by people.

THANK YOU IN NEXT SESSION WE WILL LEARN MORE

BY ABHIRAM.K