Ganga plain, by virtue of its high agricultural productivity and rich population base, has enjoyed a dominant position in the Indian subcontinent. No other region has had a comparable power base. However, the entire plain, as mentioned earlier, is not a homogeneous geographical piece. We have already seen that middle Ganga plains, for a variety of reasons, emerged more successful than the upper and lower plains and by the time of the Mauryas had attained undisputed hegemony in the subcontinent. During the Rig Vedic period the centre for this was Indo-Gangetic divide. In the later Vedic period around 1000 BCE the geographical focus shifted to Ganga-Yamuna doab. With it the eastward movement of Vedic people had begun. However, the more important developments were beginnings of settled agrarian life with the help of plough yoked to oxen and consequently, emergence of the idea of territory and territorial kingdoms (Rashtra, Janapada). Kuru and Panchala are good examples of such territories. By 6 th century BCE process of the emergence of Janapadas tended to accelerate. For the first time we come to see growth of Mahajanapadas which incorporated smaller Janapadas and the contemporary literature puts their total number at 16.
Dense jungles had
to be cleared for habitation by fire and metallic tools. In the paddy growing
middle Ganga valley surplus-generation was made possible by the deep ploughing
iron ploughshare. It was necessitated by growing population, a section of which
like the rulers, officials, monks and priests did not engage in any kind of
direct production. Agricultural surpluses helped in rise and growth of towns.
Distinctive pottery of the period was the NBP which appeared around 500 BCE.
Simultaneously, we come across the first system of coinage. The need for it was
generated by regular trade and commerce. The spread of NBP from Koshala and
Magadha to such far-flung areas as Taxila in north-west, Ujjain in western
Malwa and Amaravati in coastal Andhra suggests existence of organized commerce
and a good communication network which linked these towns among others. These
developments were accompanied by sweeping social changes. Settled life helped
in shedding pastoral arid tribal traits. Later Vedic people came into closer
touch with the autochthons and there is evidence in later Vedic literature of
this interaction and inter-mingling. These developments together with some kind
of division of labour first and next, the diversification and specialization of
occupations produced conditions congenial for the rise of caste system within
the fourfold varna frame.
The emergence of
Janapadas and Mahajanapadas signalled sweeping social, economic and political
changes. Grama (village), nigama (a bigger settlement where commercial exchange
also took place) and nagara (town) were usual components of the Janapada. Woods
and jungles (vana) were also parts of it. A Janapada was basically a socio-cultural
region. It provided the basis for state formation which actualized in 6th
century BCE. Together with the rise of Mahajanapadas we notice the growth of
Mahanagaras (big cities) and concomitant affluent and impoverished social
categories. The process under discussion came into its own and blossomed fully
in middle Ganga valley during Mauryan period. State society had, thus, arrived
and the state was willing to make use of powerful religious systems such as
Brahmanism, Buddhism, Jainism and so on to maintain itself and the social
order. With these developments the Gangetic northern India emerges into full
view of history
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