Chapter – 2

Kings, Farmers, and Towns

In this post, we have given the detailed notes of Class 12 History Chapter 2 (Kings, Farmers, and Towns) in English. These notes are useful for the students who are going to appear in class 12 board exams.

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TIMELINE

• Harappan Civilization 2600 to 1900 BCE (Urban Civilization)
• Unknown period 1900 to 1500 BC
  • Vedic Age 1500 to 600 BCE (rural people)
  • Rigvedic period 1500 to 1000 BC
• Later Vedic period 1000 to 600 BCE
• Iron Age 600 BC to 600 AD (development of 16 Mahajanapadas)
  • Largest Mahajanapada (Magadha)
    • Haryanka dynasty 544 to 412 BC
    • Shishunaga Dynasty 412 to 344 BCE
    • Nanda Dynasty 344 to 321 BCE
    • Maurya Dynasty 321 to 185 BC (322 to 185 BC)

Vedic Period

• Vedic civilization came into existence after Harappan civilization
• It was rural civilization and it was settled by Aryans
• Its period has been determined from 1500 to 600 BC.
• Their language was Praka Sanskrit which was slightly different from the present Sanskrit.
• Vedic civilization is mainly divided into two parts
• Rigvedic period 1500 to 1000 BC
• Later Vedic period 1000 to 600 BCE
• Vedic civilization is mainly divided into two parts _ _ _ _
  • Rigvedic period (1500 to 1000 BCE)
    • Rigveda was composed during the Rigvedic period
  • Later Vedic Period ( 1000 to 600 BCE )
    • Other Vedas such as Samaveda, Atharvaveda, and Yajurveda were composed during the later Vedic period.

Iron Age

• After the discovery of iron, there was a change in the lifestyle of civilizations.
• Iron plows and weapons began to be made
• Due to the construction of the plow, the amount of cultivation increased and the people started accumulating wealth.
• With the manufacture of iron, weapons manufacturing also started, due to which the development of Mahajanapadas started.
• District :- People – People + Post – Feet
  • The district was called the place where people started coming and living.
  • Due to the increase in weapons and agriculture, the size of the janapadas started increasing and in this way the Mahajanapadas developed.
  • At that time there were mainly 16 Mahajanapadas.
  • Magadha was the largest of which

Rule over Magadha

King of the Haryaka dynasty

• bimbisara
• ajatshatru
• Udayin
• snake decade

King of the Shishunaga dynasty

• Founder – Shishunag

Nanda dynasty

• Founder Mahapadmananda
• Last ruler Dhananand :-
  • Dhananand was a very proud king
  • Chanakya insulted by Dhananand became the reason for his end.
  • Chanakya prepared Chandragupta and defeated Dhananand and ended his palace, thus ending the Nanda dynasty.

Maurya Empire

• Founder Chandragupta Maurya
• Point by point

  • Ashoka

  • Ashoka Chakravarti was called the emperor
  • After adopting Buddhism, he gave up fighting wars.
  • Because of this, the subsequent kings were not so powerful and finally the Maurya Empire ended.
  • After this, India was ruled by external rulers for a long time.
  • And then came the Gupta Empire

Gupta Empire

• Mr. Gupta
• Chandragupta 1
• Samudragupta
• Chandragupta 2 (Vikramaditya)

Janapadas and Mahajanapadas

( 600 BC to 600 AD )

• District :- Jan ( people ) + post ( feet )
  • The district was called the place where people started coming and living.

Development

• After the discovery of iron, there was a change in the lifestyle of civilizations.
• Iron plows and weapons began to be made
• Due to the construction of the plow, the amount of cultivation increased and the people started accumulating wealth.
• With the manufacture of iron, weapons making also started, due to which the development of Mahajanapadas started.    

Properties

Capital

• Mahajanapadas had a capital
• The capitals were fortified i.e. surrounded by walls on all sides for protection.
• The capitals were maintained by the army
• There used to be army and bureaucrats in every district.

Governance

• Most of the Mahajanapadas were ruled by the king.
• But there were many Mahajanapadas which were known as Gana and Sangha, where a group of people used to rule.
• Mainly 16 Mahajanapadas are described
• The most important of these was Magadha.

Gana and Sangha

• Gana – A group of many members is called a Gana.
• Sangh – The organization or assembly is called Sangh
• Gautam Buddha and Mahavir belonged to Jain Gana only.
• In the gana, more than one person used to handle the work of governance.
• Here everyone was given equal rights

Creation of Religious Texts

• During this period, religious texts were created by Brahmins.
• The rules of the state have been told in these religious texts.
• According to these religious texts, only Kshatriyas have the right to become king.
• It is the work of Brahmins to share education and knowledge.
• Similarly, the Brahmins fixed the work of all the people.

Tax Recovery

• Taxes were collected and presented by the kings from the merchants and craftsmen.
• There is a difference of opinion on the subject of collecting taxes from forest dwellers and shepherds, but it is believed that horses and elephants were taken as a gift from them.
• Along with this, kings used to increase their wealth by attacking other states and capturing their army and wealth.

Maurya Empire ( Chanakya )

(321-185 BC)

• Maurya Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya
• It is located in the state of Bihar
• Capital- Pataliputra
• Magadha emerged as the most powerful Mahajanapada of that period.
• Chanakya was behind the establishment and development of the Maurya Empire.
• Chanakya was also known as Kautilya Vishnugupta.
• He prepared Chandragupta and established the rule of the Maurya Empire on Magadha.
• During that period, their rule extended from Afghanistan to Balochistan.

Sources of information about the Maurya Empire

• literary source
• Arthashastra written by Chanakya
• Information written by the Greek ambassador Megasthenes
• Mudrarakshasa composed by Visakhadatta
• scriptures and religious scriptures written by brahmins
• Buildings and stupas built during the Maurya period
• Inscriptions and sculpture written on Mauryan pottery stone

Administrative law

Central Ruler

• Unitary rule: King’s control over the entire state
• act as a judge
• chief of army
• establishment of council of ministers

Provincial Government

• Due to being a very large empire, the system of provincial government was established in the Maurya Empire.
• Kumar used to handle the provincial administration
• Kumar was accompanied by some officers called Mahamatras to assist him.

Local Government

• Pataliputra was mainly described in the local government
• There were a total of 6 committees that handled Pataliputra and each committee used to have 5 – 5 officers.
• Thus it used to have a total of 30 members.

Military System

• The Magadha Empire had a huge army to protect the vast empire.
• To arrange this, 6 committees of 30 people were formed.
• Each of which used to have 5 – 5 people
• There used to be 6 lakh foot soldiers, 30 thousand horsemen, 9 thousand elephants and about 8 thousand chariots in this army.
• functions of committees
  • First Committee – Infantrymen
  • Second Committee – Horsemen
  • Third Committee – Navy
  • Fourth Committee – Rath Sena
  • Fifth Committee – Elephant Army
  • Sixth Committee – Arrangement of weapons and food

Judicial System

• During the Maurya rule, the judicial system was completely in the hands of the king.
• According to Kautilya’s Arthashastra, a total of 18 types of punishments were given.
• Due to harsh punishment, legal system was maintained in the state and crimes were less.

Revenue System

• 1/6% of the produce is taken as tax from the farmers
• It was also given big in case of emergency.
• Taxes and gifts were collected from merchants
• And some tax was also imposed on the general public.

Route System

• Both sea and land routes were used for commuting.
• A huge road ran from Taxila to Pataliputra
• Other minor roads used to connect different areas of the states.
• There used to be milestones on the roads to tell the distance
• Dharamshalas and drinking places were built along the roads so that passers-by could use them.

Major Political Center

• There were five major political centers in the Maurya Empire
  • Capital Pataliputra
  • Takshshila
  • Ujjayini
  • Tosli
  • golden kernel

Mauryan Empire ( Ashoka )

• After Chandragupta, Ashoka emerged as the most influential king in the Maurya Empire.
• His father’s name was Bindusara and mother’s name was Subhadragi.
• Magadha Empire expanded during the reign of Ashoka
• He was one of the most mighty rulers
• He took the rule of Magadha to new heights
• But Kalinga’s war proved to be the last battle because after that he stopped fighting.

War of Kalinga 261 BC

• Kalinga was located in the present-day state of Orissa[
• By conquering this region, Ashoka wanted to spread his kingdom all over India.
• Due to this they got a way to go to South India and South East India.
• For this reason Ashoka attacked this region.
• Ashoka was victorious in this war, but seeing the death of so many people, Ashoka’s mind changed.
• They felt like so many people died because of them only
• After that war, Ashoka gave up fighting and called it the last victory of his life.
• After this war, Ashoka was engaged in social welfare works and he composed the Dhamma.

Ashoka’s Dhamma

• Ashoka’s Dhamma was not a religion but it was a set of some general rules according to which a person can lead a satisfied and happy life.
• Officers named Dhamma Mahamat were appointed for the propagation of Dhamma.
• This Dhamma Mahamat used to propagate this Dhamma by going to different areas.
• And used to inspire people to live according to the rules of this Dhamma.

Ideas and rules described in the Dhamma

• respect your elders
• be kind to slaves and servants
• non-violence
• respect all religions
• respecting scholars and brahmins
• treat your little ones with love
• lead a sinless life
• donate
• Relinquishing customs like birth, death, marriage, fasting, etc. to follow customs like love charity.
• Take a look inside yourself from time to time and see your bad actions and habits to improve them

Record

• Inscriptions Inscriptions carved on any stone, earthenware or metal are called inscriptions.
• Ashoka composed many inscriptions during his reign.
• Within these inscriptions, the works done by Ashoka, victories and other achievements are mentioned.
• Brahmi and Kharoshthi scripts have been used in these inscriptions.
• Ashoka’s inscriptions can be mainly divided into four parts.
• Major Inscriptions Small Inscriptions Pillar Inscriptions Cave Inscriptions
• The Dhamma is mainly propagated by these inscriptions.
• Most of the inscriptions made by Ashoka were in Brahmi script.
•      The meaning of this Brahmi script was derived by James Prinsep in 1838.

Reasons for the fall of the Maurya Empire

• weak successor
• inability to withstand foreign invasions
• fight for succession
• opposition to brahmins
• peace loving policy

Uplift

• Difficult to attack because the capital is surrounded by hills
• efficient administrator
• availability of iron
• vast forest
• availability of elephants
• because of the waterway
• transport facility
• Equal development due to being away from brahminical ideology
• fertile land

After Maurya Empire

• After the fall of the Maurya Empire, separate kingdoms emerged in India.
• Kushan rulers in the north
• doubt in the west
• Wakataka in Central India
• Satavahana in southwestern India
• Sardaris like Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas developed in South India
• Gupta dynasty established over Magadha Empire

Rule in Southern India

• The rise of chieftains in the southern region of India
• There were mainly three regions, the Cholas, the Cheras and the Pandyas.
• At that time this state used to be very prosperous.

• Sardar

  • Sardar was a type of ruler who was not a king but had authority over the state.
  • The post of Sardar could also be hereditary and on the basis of election, Sardar could also be elected.
  • Sardar’s supporters used to be his family members.

Work

• The army was led by a Sardar
• All kinds of religious rituals and yagyas were conducted by the chieftain.
• Simultaneously, quarrels, disputes etc. were suggested by the Sardar.
• The government kept an eye on all the arrangements of the state.
• He was not a complete king but used to do almost all the work of the king.

Tax Regime

• No one was permanently taxed by the Sardar
• The chieftain’s income was through gifts given by the people.
• Sardar used to distribute this income among his supporters.

Sources of Information

• Information about these states comes from ancient Tamil Sangam texts.
• In these texts a detailed description about Sardar is given.

Kushan Ruler

• The Kushan rulers ruled in the northern part of India.
• They are called divine rulers
• It is so called because these rulers tried to portray themselves as gods.

Why was this done ?

• The king tried to show himself as a god to make himself stand out from the common people.
• By doing this, he had a good image among the public, due to this good image, the king got the support of the people.
• For this reason, the king used to try to show himself like a god.
• The kings used to get their huge idols installed in the temples at par with the gods.
• He used to put the title of Devaputra in front of his name.
• The coins prevalent among the subjects used to have the image of the king on one side and the image of the deity on the other side.
• In all these ways, the king used to make his image like a god among the subjects by showing himself as a deity.

Secret Period

• After the fall of the Maurya Empire, the rule of the Gupta dynasty was established over Magadha.
• It was founded by Shri Gupta in about 275 AD.
• The Gupta period is also called the Golden Age of India because during this time India made cultural and artistic development.
• Most of the coins here were made of gold and the official language here was Sanskrit.
• Samudra Gupta was one of the most influential rulers of the Gupta Empire.
• Information about this period comes from literary sources and inscriptions.
• The most prominent literary source of this is Prayag Prashasti.
• which was written by Harishena, the king poet of Samudragupta
• This work was written in Sanskrit language 

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