I.

Reconstructing ancient Indian history

[a] The Indian subcontinent: landscapes and environments
[b] Sources and methods of historical reconstruction
[c] Changing historical interpretations
[d] Early Indian traditions of history

1. Examine the importance of coins and epigraphs as sources for the

reconstruction of early Indian history.

Or

Examine the importance of archaeological sources for the study of ancient Indian
history. Mention some of the scientific methods used to date the artefacts.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES

Material remains can be divided into four categories:

Inscriptions

Numismatic evidence

Ruined cities and monuments

Miscellaneous

Inscriptions

The study of inscriptions is called epigraphy. Inscriptions were carved on seals,

stone pillars, rocks, copper plates, temple walls and bricks or images. The earliest
inscriptions in the country were recorded on stone. But in early centuries of the
Christian era, copper plates began to be used for this purpose. The earliest
inscriptions were in Prakrit, dating back to the third century BCE. Sanskrit was
adapted as an epigraphic medium in the second century CE. Inscriptions of King
Ashoka were engraved in the Brahmi script which was written from left to right.
But some were also inscribed in the Kharoshti script which was written from right
to left. There are various kinds of inscriptions: some convey royal orders regarding
social, religious and administrative matters to officials and people, in general,
such as that of Ashokan edicts, Junagarh inscriptions of the Saka King
Rudradaman and Nanaghat inscriptions of the Satavahana King Gautamiputra
Satakarni. Then there are the prasastis or eulogistic records written by court
poets and officials on behalf of kings, narrating their achievements and personal
qualities. For example, Allahabad Prasasti on Samudra Gupta and Aihole
inscription on Chalukya King Pulakeshin II, and the Hanthigumpha inscription of
the Kalinga King Kharavela. The Hanthigumpha inscription narrates the
chronological information of events of Kharavela’s reign. It speaks of his
education, coronation, and favours showered on his urban and rural subjects.
There are private inscriptions too which are mainly donation records and describe
the official position of the donors. These refer to rulers and subjects both
donating money and land to temples, monasteries, educational institutions,
Brahmanas or individuals. For example, there are the instances of King Ashoka
and his son Dasaratha donating caves to the Ajivika sect. A large number of votive
or dedicative inscriptions are also found. Some of the Indus valley seals must have
been votive, though the script has not been deciphered yet. The Piprahwah vase
inscription records the dedication of the relic casket of Lord Buddha. The
Basenagar Garuda Pillar inscription of Heliodorous also belongs to this category.
Inscriptions can also be approximately—its date has not been mentioned—dated
on palaeographic grounds. They are more precise than law books because the
technical terms of fiscal and administrative import given in them can help
determine the dates of various strata of the Arthasastra of Kautilya, Dharmasastra
and other allied literature. For example, if terms such as vishti, hiranya or dinara
are found in the inscriptions as well as the texts, both can be regarded to be from
the same time period.

Numismatic Evidence

Coins help us know about our past. They give us names of the kings of various
dynasties that existed in the past and provide information about their economy,
religion and social structure. They help us to understand chronological events, as
most often the dates are mentioned on the coins. It was through coins that the
period of Samudragupta’s reign was unearthed. The discovery of a large number
of Roman coins indicates a prosperous trade with the Roman Empire. Sometimes,
we also get to know about the hobbies or amusements of the rulers. By studying
the coins of a dynasty, we can find out how prosperous they were. For example,
abundance of gold and silver coins flowing in the market indicated prosperity,
whereas predominance of copper coins was an indicator of economic crisis.
Ancient coins were made of metals—copper, silver, gold and lead. Coin moulds
were also discovered in large numbers. People kept money in earthenware and in
brass vessels. The earliest coins contain a few symbols; coins from later periods
mention the names of kings, gods or dates, religious symbols and legends, all of
which throw light on the art and religion of the times. Some coins mention names
of tribes or people such as the Malavas, the Yaudheyas and the Mitra rulers of
Panchala, which suggests that these were republican states. The coins were
issued both by monarchs and state authorities, on the one hand, and by guilds of
merchants, private merchants and other small private bodies, on the other. A
large number of gold coins were issued during the reign of the Kushanas and the
Guptas.

Ruined Cities and Monuments

Ancient India had numerous temples and palatial structures, which depict the
religious, economic and social progress of the people. They also enlighten us on
the art and architecture of the period. The paintings and idol-making architectural
styles are all representative of the dynasty and the time period such as the
Gandhara and the Mathura art and the Dravidian style. Excavated cities and
towns of ancient India such as Rajgir, Nalanda, Bodh Gaya, Amaravati and
Kaushambi provide information about the city and its people.

Miscellaneous

There are certain other excavated materials such as cave temples and
monasteries, pillars, potteries, seals, stone tools and implements, which provide
authentic information about the socio-economic, religious, political and cultural
aspects of ancient Indian history. There have been many scientific methods of
dating artefacts. The most important of them is the Carbon-14 or radiocarbon
dating technique. Other dating techniques include thermoluminescence,
potassium-argon, electron spin resonance, uranium series and fission-track. The
dating of artefacts can also be possibly done through chemical analysis and
measurement of objects. This is known as archaeometry. Also techniques such as
palaeo-pathology—the study of diseases ancient people suffered from—and
palaeontology—the study of the remains of the dead organisms over enormous
spans of time—help us know about the times gone by. The study of dental
structure helps us to know about the food pattern of ancient people, and the
study of pollen and other minute plants helps us know about the environment. All
these techniques have, directly or indirectly, provided us a deeper insight into all
aspects of life of the people of ancient India. Thus, in order to study Indian history
in a wholesome manner, one has to depend on literary sources corroborated with
archaeological sources.

2. Discuss the sources and tools of reconstruction of ancient Indian history.

To study the life and culture of people of ancient India, we have to rely on
different sources of Indian history. But the greatest handicap in the treatment of
the history of ancient India, both political and cultural, is the absence of a definite
chronology. Literary sources corroborated by archaeological evidence give a
complete picture, to a certain extent, of ancient times. The sources for the
reconstruction of ancient Indian history are generally studied under two broad
categories—literary sources and archaeological sources.

LITERARY SOURCE

S Ancient Indians knew writing as early as 3000 BCE. But our most ancient
manuscripts are not older than the fourth century BCE. Literary sources can be
divided into four main parts:

Religious scriptures

Non-religious or secular literature

Historical writings

Accounts of foreign historians and travelers

Religious Scriptures

The religious scriptures can further be divided into three categories:

Hindu

Buddhist

Jain

HINDU LITERATURE.

Reference may be made to the Rigveda, Samveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.

Out of the four Vedas, the Rigveda can only be accounted as the source for
reconstructing the history of Rigvedic Aryans. The other three Vedas can be
referred to for tracing information regarding later Vedic civilization. The
Brahmanas are a prose commentary on the Vedas or Samhitas; the Aranyakas and
the Upanishadas constitute the mystical and philosophical literature. In addition
to the aforementioned, there are six Vedangas, namely, phonetics, astronomy,
ritual, grammar, etymology and metrics. The Sutra literature mainly contains
socio-religious laws, customs and usages of Hindu society. The two great epics,
namely, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata (partly religious and partly secular)
are the most famous books in Sanskrit literature and shed light on different
aspects of Hindu society before the sixth century BCE. The Puranas and the Smriti
literatures give an account of socio-religious customs and political history,
focusing mainly on the genealogical list of certain Hindu dynasties such as the
Haryankas, Shaishunagas, Nandas and the Mauryas. The Dharmashastras speak
about the Dharma—the proper, ideal conduct—of a person living in society.

Buddhist Literature.

Buddhist scriptures provide detailed information about the period around the
sixth century BCE. Buddhist literature is divided into canonical and non-canonical
literature. Canonical books lay down the basic tenets and principles of a religion
or sect. The three pitakas or baskets (Pali, Chinese and Tibetan versions) in Pali
are the Vinaya Pitaka, which contains disciplinary rules and regulations of leading
a monastic life; the Sutta Pitaka, which is a summary of the teachings of Buddha;
and the Abhidhamma Pitaka, which deals with the doctrines of the Buddha in a
scholastic manner. The Jataka stories talk about the previous births of the
Buddha. The non-canonical Buddhist literatures in Pali are Milindapanha,
Divyadana, Lalitavistara, Mahavastu and the Pali or Sri Lankan chronicles—the
Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa. Buddha Charita and Saundarnanda by
Asvaghosha give valuable information about the dynasties and the rulers.

Jain Literature.

Jain works, such as the twelve Angas, Kalpasutra, Bhagavati Sutra, Marutunga,
Parisistaparvan and Andhara-Magadhi, provide important historical data on
Jainism and culture and also on important monarchs such as Bimbisara,
Ajatasatru, Mahapadma Nanda and Chandragupta Maurya.

Secular Literature

There is a vast secular literature containing valuable historical evidence on

ancient India. It can be divided into four main parts:

Works on political economy

Drama

Biography

Sangam literature

Works on Political Economy.

Kautilya’s Arthasastra contains a lot of information regarding the system of

administration, economy and the religious life of the people of the Mauryan
period. Drama. The most important and relevant dramas are Vishakadatta’s
Mudrarakshasa, which contains valuable information on the Nandas and the
Mauryas, and Devichandraguptam, which gives historical data on the geneology
of the Guptas. Kalidasa’s famous work Malavikagnimitra offers valuable
information regarding the Sunga dynasty.

Biography
 A number of biographies written in ancient times give us a glimpse of the
private lives and work of Gautama Buddha and other important rulers. For
example, Buddha Charita and Saundarnanda Kavya by Asvaghosa on Buddha,
Harsha Charita by Banabhatta on Harshavardhana, Bikramankadeva-Charita by
Bilhana on the king Vikramaditya of the later Chalukyas.

Sangam Literature.

Sangam literature furnishes an all-round picture of the life of the people of Tamil
land during the first to the third century CE. The most important source materials
are Pattupattu or the Ten Idyllus, Ettutokai or the Eight Collections and
Pandinenkilkanakku or the Eighteen Minor Didactic Poems.

Historical Writings

Rajatarangini of Kalhana was written in 1149–50 CE. Kalhana gives an account of

the kings of Kashmir in chronological order with a fair amount of details. Kirti-
Kaumudi of Someswara and Prabandha-Kosa of Rajashekhara are some of the
other important texts.

Accounts of Foreign Historians and Travellers

In the words of K. A. N. Shastri, the accounts of any country and its people by
foreign observers are of great interest to the historians of the country. For they
enable him to know what impressions made on the minds of such observers and
to estimate with greater confidence the part played by it in the general history of
the world. According to K. N. Shastri, the information given by the foreign writers
are often both instructive and interesting. Histories, written by Herodotus, gives
us information about Indo-Persian relations and the political condition of
northwest India in his time. Arrian wrote a detailed account of the invasion of
India by Alexander. Megasthenese, in his book Indica, gives a descriptive account
of India at the time of Chandragupta Maurya. The Greek account of the Periplus
of the Erythean Sea gives a detailed account of maritime activities between India
and the West, whereas Pliny writes about Indian animals, plants and minerals.
Ptolemy writes about the geography of India and Plutarch and Strabo provide
useful information regarding the socio-economic life of their times. Chinese
accounts of Huein Tsang (629–41 AD) and Fa-Hien (399–414 AD) narrate the life
during the reign of Harsha and Chandragupta II, respectively. Arabic accounts of
Alberuni’s Tahqiq-i-Hind (1030 AD) provide a description of various aspects of the
socio-economic and political conditions of India at the time of Mahmud of Ghazni.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES

Material remains can be divided into four categories:

Inscriptions

Numismatic evidence

Ruined cities and monuments

Miscellaneous

Inscriptions

The study of inscriptions is called epigraphy. Inscriptions were carved on seals,

stone pillars, rocks, copper plates, temple walls and bricks, or images. The earliest
inscriptions in the country were recorded on stones. But in early centuries of the
Christian era, copper plates (tamrapatra) began to be used for this purpose. The
oldest inscriptions were made in Prakrit in the third century BCE. Sanskrit was
adapted as an epigraphic medium in the second century CE. Ashokan inscriptions
were engraved in the Brahmi script which was written from left to right. But some
were also incised in the Kharoshti script which was written from right to left.
There are various kinds of inscriptions. Some convey royal orders regarding social,
religious and administrative matters to officials and people, in general, such as
that of Ashokan edicts, Hanthigumpha inscriptions of Kalinga King Kharavela,
Junagarh inscriptions of Saka King Rudradaman and Nanaghat inscriptions of the
Satavahana King Gautamiputra Satakarni. There are also prasastis written by
court poets and officials on behalf of the kings, narrating their achievements and
personal qualities. For example, Allahabad Prasasti on Samudra Gupta and Aihole
Inscription on Chalukya King Pulakeshin II.
Numismatic Evidence

Ancient coins were made of metals such as copper, silver, gold and lead. Coin
moulds have been discovered in large numbers. People kept money in
earthenware as well as in brass vessels. The earliest coins contained a few
symbols, but later coins mentioned the names of kings, gods or dates, religious
symbols and legends, all of which throw light on the art and religion of the times.
Coins also throw significant light on the economic history of dynasties. These
were issued both by the monarchs and state authorities, on the one hand, and by
guilds of merchants, private merchants and other small private bodies, on the
other. A large number of coins were issued during the reign of the Mauryas and
the Guptas.

Ruined Cities and Monuments

The ancient period has innumerous temples and palatial structures. These depict
the religious, economic and social progress of the people. They also enlighten us
on the art and architecture of the period. The paintings and idol-making
architectural styles are all representative of the dynasty and the time period such
as Dravidian Style and Gandhara and Mathura Art. Excavated cities and towns of
ancient India such as Rajgir, Nalanda, Bodh Gaya, Amaravati and Kaushambi
provide detailed information about the city and its people.

Miscellaneous

There are certain other excavated materials such as cave temples and
monasteries, pillars, potteries, seals, stones tools and implements which provide
authentic information about the socio-economic, religious, political and cultural
aspects of ancient Indian history.

CONCLUSION

Thus, in order to study Indian history in a wholesome manner, one has to depend
on literary sources corroborated with archaeological sources.

3. Examine the extent to which the history of the period under study has been
influenced by geographical, environmental and technological factors.
 The history of a place has always been influenced by its geographical location.
The topography of a place generally determines the kind of lifestyle that people
follow. The geographical locations help us in understanding the settlement
patterns, movements of the people and emergence of empires. Water is the basic
need of the people and hence almost all the ancient civilizations began in the
river valleys. River valleys have fertile soil, rich flora and fauna, and are a constant
source of food. Harappan civilizations in the Indus valley, the rise of the
Mahajanapadas in the Ganga–Yamuna region and the states in the Krishna–
Tungabhadra region in the south are a few examples. Geographical location helps
in understanding the importance of the region. For example, we see the rise of
large kingdoms in the Indo-Gangetic plains because it has a vast fertile plain
where the expansion of a kingdom is easier and can support its people with food
resources. In the peninsular region, on the other hand, the area is dissected by
mountains, plateaus and river valleys which make life difficult for the people and
hence expansion of a kingdom is not possible.

The large kingdoms attracted more people towards them; historians too have
focused more on Indo-Gangetic regions, and the peninsular kingdoms have
received less attention. The economic potential of both these regions are also
different. One particular geographical region may change its importance with
time. The focus also moves to the peripheral regions sometimes. The detailed
studies of regions have inducted an interest in landscape and how it has changed
history—for example, change in the course of rivers and deforestation. Geology,
geomorphology and human activities have also acted as agencies of change.

The effect of environment on creating history has also been taken into account in
recent times. The environment mainly comprises various elements such as the
climate and weather, landscape, rivers, animals and plants. Among all of these,
climate is the most influencing factor. ‘Monsoon’ is the term which defines Indian
climate. India’s regional climate varies from the deserts of Rajasthan to the
Shillong Plateau—the area that receives maximum rainfall on earth. Though the
Tropic of Cancer passes through it, India experiences huge contrasts both in
rainfall and temperatures from region to region. There are also seasonal contrasts
between various regions such as excess rainfall in Maharashtra from the
southwest monsoon winds while on the same elevation the rainfall in the
interiors of the peninsula is rare due the Western Ghats producing a rain shadow
effect. The same wind, when it moves nearer to the east coast, results in heavy
shower in West Bengal while Assam records some of the highest rainfall in the
world. Delhi in the north receives less rainfall and as the winds move towards
Rajasthan rainfall becomes scanty.

The environment influences the socio-cultural and economic pattern of the region
to a great extent. To begin with, hunter-gatherers in the Stone Age depended on
roots, fruits, birds and other animals for food. Moreover, the tools used by them
reflect the techniques employed to exploit the nature according to their needs.
Gradually with the change in climate in the Mesolithic period, the pattern of tools
also underwent change. These were used to hunt smaller animals and thus the
tool type was called ‘microlith’. In the Neolithic period, people began to produce
food and settle in regions having a rich source of water and soil. This happened
due to the withdrawal of glaciers around 8000 BCE, which led to the reduction in
forest cover and as a result led to food crisis. The middle of the third millennium
bce saw the rise of an urban civilization called the Indus or Harappan civilization.
This region was rich in black soil which facilitated cultivation of cotton. Recent
researches in ethnobiology and paleoclimatic studies have helped in the
reconstruction of the environment during the second and third millennia and
have found greater aridity towards the end of the Harappan phase of the Indus
valley tradition.

The advent of the Aryans to the subcontinent is also due to climatic conditions.
From the beginning of the second millennium, Central Asia experienced severe
cold; therefore, people moved towards the Indian subcontinent. Movement of
these Indo-European-speaking groups from the Indus region eastward to the
Ganga and Brahmaputra valley regions was due to a gradual increase in the
average annual rainfall from 25 centimetres to 250 centimetres.

The effect of technological changes in history has been debated since long. The
main focus has been on the discovery of iron in the Gangetic valley and the
subsequent changes it brought to the region. The focus has been on the clearance
of dense forests with the help of iron axe and tilling of fertile alluvial soil with iron
ploughshare which led to the process of urbanization and the rise of the
Mahajanapadas. Technology also has certain social and cultural aspects just as
pots of different shapes and sizes have different functionalities and require
different degrees of technological specialization.

Thus, the study of ancient history has been influenced by a number of factors
such as geographical location, and environmental and technological changes

. 4. Evaluate the changing notions of history. Do you agree with the view that the
early Indians had no notion of history?

Historiography is the scholarly activity of constructing and writing history. It is

understood and written against certain backgrounds and reflects the historian’s
intellect to interpret the happenings around. It is written to achieve certain goals
which the writer or the historian sets for oneself. Thus, various schools of thought
arise around a particular historical event over a period of time, and this forms the
historiographical trend.

COLONIAL HISTORIOGRAPHY

The systematic history writing in the Indian subcontinent started with the coming
of the Europeans, who, for their administrative compulsions, were required to
know the land and its inhabitants whom they were about to rule. But the history
produced by them was always imbued with the notions of oriental despotism and
self-sufficient village economy, the main characteristic of which was the
changelessness from the earliest times to the coming of colonial rule. Hence, all
the developments and changes in the past were assigned to external forces. The
painstaking works of Indologists brought various texts from the ancient period
into light and generated great interest about the forgotten past among both the
Europeans and the Indians. Sir William Jones, who played an important role in the
founding of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1784), made three important
discoveries which were to influence the course of Indian history-writing in the
subsequent decades.

These were:
 The common origin of Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Persian and various other European
languages which were held to be part of the Indo-European language family.

The common racial origin in remotest past (the Aryans) of the people using the
various Indo-European languages.

The identification of Chandragupta Maurya with the Greek Sandrocottas and of

Palibothra with the Pataliputra.

The tripartite periodization of India’s past on religious lines was conceptualized by

James Mill (History of British India, 1817). It became a standard practice not only
in European but also in nationalist history writings. The Hindu and Muslim periods
were created as being opposed to each other and a third secular period of British
rule was projected as a solution for all the ills of Indian civilization. The assay-
master of Calcutta mint, James Prinsep (1799–1840), deciphered the Old Brahmi
script and brought to light the Ashokan inscriptions in 1834. It was a great
breakthrough which opened the way to explore the various aspects of the first
greatest empire of ancient India, that is, the Mauryan Empire, in the subsequent
decades. Max Muller (1823–1900), who was a German Orientalist, published
numerous non-Christian oriental books (The Sacred Books of the East) which
provided an easy access to various scholars on ancient literature. V. A. Smith in
Early History of India (1903) pronounced that the Macedonian invasion was the
sheet anchor of Indian history as it provided an external stimulus to open up the
insularity of India. At the same time, the racial superiority of Aryans vis-à-vis
Dravidians (indigenous people who were subjugated by the Aryan invaders)
became the most cherished idea in the various historical writings of colonial
scholars.

NATIONALIST HISTORIOGRAPHY

When in the early decades of the twentieth century Indian nationalist scholars
started writing the ancient Indian history, as a reply to colonial writings, they
conceptualized it as a period of great empires, for example, the reign of the
Mauryas and the Guptas. The period in between became the dark ages as the
subcontinent lacked the presence of empires and at the same time was subjected
to foreign rule. The exploits of Chandragupta Maurya, Asoka and Samudragupta
became the marker of Indian superiority akin to European military leaders like
Napoleon. R. G. Bhandarkar, in A Peep into the Early History of India (1900)
characterized the Gupta Age as a period that witnessed the revival of Brahmanism
reflected by contemporary religion, art and literature. The ‘Gupta period’ became
the golden age for nationalist scholars as it witnessed the revival of Sanskrit
literature and expansion of Hinduism. The whole concept of the Golden Age was
based on the blind assumption that the empire was a demarcation of peace,
growth, prosperity and stability, hence representing a period of homogenous
characteristics in time and space. Small kingdoms such as the Gurjara-Prathiharas
and the Palas were seen as a fall from the standard.

The Hindu Polity (1918) of K. P. Jayaswal declared the presence of republics (gana-
sanghas) at the time of Buddha which functioned in a democratic manner under
restricted monarchy. Two assemblies, samiti (a representative body looking after
the state administration) and sabha (an assembly of selects working under the
supervision of samiti), were seen as the two pillars of democratic functioning,
debating and deciding by votes on the various issues of state and polity concerns.
S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar and K. M. Nilakanta Sastri were two of the south Indian
scholars who, through several of their writings, made south India their focus for
research. Aiyangar laid great stress on the functioning of self-governing village
bodies under the Cholas, while Nilakanta Sastri wrote A History of South India
(1955), presenting a general survey of south Indian history from the earliest times
to the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire. Many nationalist scholars continued to
stress on concepts such as the Aryan race, religion-based periodization and
Muslim rule as a degeneration of the great Hindu tradition. The glorification of
India’s past became a means to prove the superiority of Indian people as being a
branch of the Aryan race. These scholars wrote to fuse a sense of superiority and
confidence in the hearts of the Indian masses against colonial rule by glorifying
ancient India.

MARXIST HISTORIOGRAPHY
 With the advent of Marxist writings in post-Independence India, the old views
like changelessness of Indian society proposed by colonial scholars and the notion
of the Golden Age proposed by nationalist scholars were brought into critical
analysis. In fact, these views were rejected by shifting the focus from political
history to socio-economic history with an increasing emphasis on the study of
marginalized and oppressed sections of society, such as the shudras,
untouchables, peasantry and so forth. The concept of Indian feu-dalism was
theorized on the premises of agrarian expansion, emergence of castes, and the
little or complete negation of trade and commercial activities. Another important
change became visible in the idea of periodization that remained no more based
on dynastic or political changes but on major socio-economic developments.

The pioneering work of D. D. Kosambi, An Introduction to the Study of Indian

History (1956), re-analysed the Marxist writings and proposed it as a tool or
method of thinking rather than a substitute of thinking. Now the changes in mode
of production became the criteria to map the socio-political developments in the
past. Kosambi argued that neither the king nor his kingdom but the people and
the use of plough are important for historical studies because the type of
kingship, function of the property relations and surplus produced depended on
the method of agriculture. Dynastic changes and vast religious upheavals were
generally the outcome of powerful changes in the mode of production (Kosambi
1956: 13). S. K. Maity’s Economic Life in Northern India in the Gupta Period (1957)
rejected the golden age notion associated with Gupta period. Later, the rejection
of the golden age was beautifully summed up by the famous historian D. N. Jha as
all ages are golden ages for upper classes/castes and all ages are dark ages for
lower classes/castes.

Through his numerous writings, R. S. Sharma explained, on the one hand, the
second urbanization as a result of technological breakthrough and, on the other
hand, further developed the idea of Indian feudalism leading to various debates in
the following decades. Sharma (1958) saw the extensive use of iron in the Ganga
valley leading to the clearing of dense forests and expansion of agriculture. It
made possible the availability of surplus to sustain non-producing classes such as
the bureaucracy, military and traders-craftsmen. A. Ghosh and K. T. S. Sarao both
rejected this argument. According to them surplus or urbanization is not a result
of a technical breakthrough but an outcome of a complex socio-political
development. One of the most contro-versial works of Romila Thapar, From
Lineage to State (1984), explains the transition from pre-state to state formation
in the Ganga valley in the mid-first millennium BCE.

According to Max Mueller and many other Orientalists, Indian village

communities were unchanging and the Indians lacked a sense of history. They
also maintained that Indians were accustomed to despotic rule and had no notion
of either nationhood or any form of self-government. But the histo-riographical
writings by Indian scholars, as seen earlier, do not support this argument.