1 Approaches to the study of Indian society, culture and civilization

Dr. N.K Mungreiphy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.  Learning Outcomes

2.  Introduction

3.   Stone Age

4.  Harappa civilization

5.  Decline of the civilization

6.  Vedic age

• The Vedas
• Economy
• Polity
• Society
• Religion

1.  Learning Outcomes

After studying this module:

• You will be able to understand the development of Indian culture.
• You shall know Indian social structure, ancient Indian society and culture.
• You would be able to understand the different stages of Indian civilization.
• In addition, you will learn about the Harappan civilization as well as the Vedic age in the perspective of culture and civilization

2.  Introduction

Indian society, culture and civilization have undergone through various phases and have a long history of its own. Civilizations of Indian begin more than two million years ago. This has been supported by several archaeological findings, ancient manuscript and by number of antique tools found in different part of India, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. The developmental phase is divided to number of period starting from the Stone Age, which is further subdivided into different phases.

3. Stone Age

Paleolithic age

In this period people lived in nomad life. They used stone stool roughly dress by clipping. The evidences were found throughout the country accept the alluvial plain of Indus, Ganga and Yamuna river. Tools were used for hunting, cutting and other purposes. Leaves of tree and skins of animal were worn by the people to protect themselves from the weather. In course of time during this phase fire were discovered by the people, which was one of the most important discoveries made in the history of mankind. This period was signified by hunting, fishing and gathering of food.

Mesolithic age

During this period domestication of animals and rock painting were practiced. This is evidence from the paintings in Bhimbetka, Azamgarg, Pratapgarh and Mirzapur. This art provides evidence of hunting wild animals, for gathering and human activities like intercourse, childbirth and burial. Social organization tends to be more organized during this period.

Neolithic age

This is the new phase of development, where men began to depend less on the hunting and food gathering and begin to developed food gathering and food producing. They used tool and implement of polish stone. Stone axe seem to have been popular and is evidence from the large number of them being found in the hill track of the country. Since they depend entirely on the stone tools they cannot extend their habitation and cannot produced more then they need. They cultivated crop like rice, wheat, and barley. They also domesticated cattle along with farming.

Chalcolithic age

Toward the close of the Neolithic age, used of metal begin to developed. The first metal was the used of copper. Archaeologist has discovered several stone and copper implement from different sites. They practice ruler farming and lived in different part of the country. Apart from this copper object like ring, Celts, hatchets, sword, harpoon, spearhead, anthropomorphic, have been found in wide area.

4. Harappa civilization

Harappan civilization originated in the north western part of the Indian subcontinent. It was the extension of chalcolithic period in India. The period of Harappan culture extended from approximately 2500 BC to 1500 BC. This culture was spread over part of present day Punjab, Haryana, Baluchistan, Gujarat and Rajasthan. It also includes the western part of Utter Pradesh, and co-existed with people who practice gathering, hunting and nomadic lifestyle. Some of the important sites are Harappa on the bank of the river Ravi, in western Punjab. It was the first to be excavated. Mohenjo-Daro on the bank of Indus, in the Larkana district of Sindh was the largest settlement. The third important site found was Chanhudaro about 130 kilometers south of Mohenjo-Daro in Sind. Harappan civilization was spread over an area of 1.5 million sq. kms, with Sutkagendor of Makran in the west, Alamgirpur of UP in the east, Manda of J&K in the north and Daimabad of Maharashtra in south representing the outer limits of this culture. Over the year nearly 1500 site are discover in India. The culture was found in the Indus Valley, Ghaggar Basin, Gujarat province, Western Uttar Pradesh and Northern Maharashtra. Some of the feature of Harappa culture has been discuses below.

Source: www.harappa.com

Source: History- www.angelfire.com

Town planning

Town were planned with great uniformity and show similarity in their lay out. Street and lanes were cut across in right angle base on the grid pattern, dividing the city into number of rectangular block. Main Street ran from north to south and it has a width of 30 feet. The Street was not paved. Entire city was bifurcated into two distinct parts, citadel, a fortified area which house civic and religious house including the granaries and the house of the ruling class. The lower town was rather bigger in area and hosted the common people. Surkodada and kalibangan are the example of fortification of the lower town. And Dholivara show the division of the town into three parts. They used extensive burn brick and stone structure was absent. Elaborate and planned underground drainage systems were present. Each house was connected to the main drainage system which is equipped with manhole, mostly made of mud mortar. The used of mud and mortar was to make it watertight. Cesspit was present inside the house for depositing solid waste. The houses were plain, not decorative.

Source: http://www.indianetzone.com/5/harappa_town_planning.htm

Harappa society

Excavation at Mohenjo-Daro indicates the existence of four classes of people, namely learned, worriers, trader and artisan, and finally the labor class, corresponding to the Verna class. The learned class comprises of the priest, astrologer, and sorcerous. The presents of palace with ancient foundation with sword show that some sections of people are warriors’ class who guarded the palace. A commercial class of various artesian such as mansion engraves, shell worker and weaver goldsmith formed the third middle class.

The dietary pattern of Harappan consists of wheat, barley, rice and milk. And numbers of vegetable are included in their diet, which were cultivated by them. In addition meat like beef, mutton, poultry and fish were eaten. Meat derives from both domesticated animals and also hunted wild animals. The skeleton remains of animals like the Indian hump bull, sheep, cattle, elephant, have been discover. Brahmani bull or the Indian humped ox, frequently represented on the seals have been discovered, and it seem it represent an important animals of their time. The remains or the skeleton of the horse have been found, however there are debate whether the horse were known to the Indus people or not, as the remains were found on the surface. The clay models toys of the Indian bison, tiger, monkey, dog, rhinoceros, dog bear and hare were found.

Harappa agriculture

The Indus or Harappan Civilization was based on agricultural surplus like all other contemporary river-valley civilizations of the Bronze Age. The annual flooding in the Indus and the rivers of the Punjab brought down rich silt making irrigated lands fertile for cultivation. To collect the grain as taxes due to the State or as offerings to the temples, administrative machinery could have existed. Grain collected would have been deposited in large granaries for distribution as wages, particularly to the mass of workers engaged in the construction of gigantic public works such as brick platform at Mohenjo-Daro, barricades at Harappa, irrigation canals, city drainage systems etc. Right at the threshing floor it would have been convenient to control the distribution of grain. To facilitate the distribution of grains, bunches of grain stalks would have been bundled into loads and marked with clay labels and then impressed with seals to identify ownership before the grain was taken away by landlords as their share or was transported to granaries. The rest was left for the cultivators or tenant-farmers as their wages. It is thus quite likely that Harappan seals and sealing would contain information on agricultural production and distribution. This probable scenario has led to search for and identify a remarkable set of closely knit signs which appears to refer to crops and sharing of grain.

Trade

Harappa had a trade relation to the cities of Mesopotamia and Persian Gulf. This is evidence from the discovery of Harappa seal from the site of Susa, Ur, etc. and from the Indus site, object from the Mesopotamia have also been found. Evidence of trade relation with west Asia is not very impressive. Mesopotamia literature mention about trade relation carried out with the Dilmun identified with island of Bahrain in Persian Gulf, Megan the Megran coast, and Mehuha generally identified with India, especially the Indus region and Saurastra. Trade and exchange activities were regulated by the developed measurements of weight and measure. Numerous articles of chert, limestone, and steatite were used as the weight base on 16 or it’s multiple. They practiced the art of measurement as was evident from the stick inscribed with measure mark.

Religion

The ideas about Harappa civilization religious belief are constructed on the bases of terracotta remain and seal. Most of the figures are of women, whom they represented as nude as the fertility god and the mother goddess. Although figures are of women were depicted as nude, many bangles and necklaces were worn.

The male deity of the Harappa was the honed depicted on the seal. On one of the seal, male deity is surrounded by four wild animals, an elephant, a tiger, a rhinoceros and a buffalo, along with two deer beneath his seat. This apparently shares some of the characteristic of Shiva in the later Vedic time. In the Indus zone tree were also worship, peepal trees were depicted in several seal. They also worship animals like the hump bull which is consider venerable even today. The religious important of tree, animals, birds etc. that has been found from the excavation and interpreted that Harappa practice animism. The dead were buried in the north-south direction along with different type of goods.

5. Decline of the civilization

There is a consensus among the scholar that this civilization begins to decline toward the commencement of the second millennium. This is evidence from the Harappa, Kalibangan, Chanudaro, as the great town planning, building activities begin to decline. The great bath and granary were not in used. There was abrupt disappearance of weight and measure, scrip, bronze tool and pottery with black design. Alteration in the course of the river Indus and Ravi which cause the production of the food for the urban population to stop has been attributed as the main reasons for the collapse of the Harappa civilization.

6. Vedic age

In Indian history, the Vedic age was the period from 1750 to 500 BC. During this period, the oldest scripture of Hinduism, the Vedas was compiled. During the early part the people settled in the northern part of India. They were mostly pastoral tribal community. After 1200 BC, they expended toward the Gangatic plain because of growing settled agricultural activity. It was accompanied by system of hierarchy of four different social classes among the people and then the establishment of state-level politics and emergence of monarchical rule in the society.

The proposed period of earlier Vedic age dated back to 2nd millennium BC. As the Vedic period ends, there arise urbanized states and the Shramana movements which including Buddhism and Jainism, challenging the Vedic orthodoxy. Groups of Indo-Aryan peoples migrated into North-western India and started inhabiting the northern Indus Valley after the breakdown of the Indus Valley Civilisation.

The Rigveda-samhita was composed between 1500–1200 BCE and the knowledge about the Aryans comes mostly from the Rigveda-samhita. They brought with them their distinctive religious traditions and practices. The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised Proto-Indo-European as well as the Indo-Iranian religion.

The Vedas

In Vedic Literature, Veda means knowledge and the Vedic literature include four Vedas. Of all the Veda, Rigveda is the earliest. Vedas are the collection of hymns, prayer, charms and sacrificial formulas. They are also known as Sruti meaning hearing and they are passed down from generation to generation.

The four Vedas are as follows:

• Rig Veda: It is the collection of Hymns and the oldest of the Vedas. It is divided into 10 mandalas. The Mandalas are further divided in to Astakas and Suktas which contain 1028/1017 Hymns for Suktas.
• Yajur Veda: It is collection of ritual for performing different sacrifices, recited by priest and it contains 40 chapters. It is the only Veda in proses.
• Sam Veda: It is a collection of Hymns sung by particular priest taken from Rig Veda. It contains 1810 hymns and it is used for the purpose of singing at soma sacrifices.
• Atharva Veda: It is a collection of charms spell and magic, which contain 711/731/760/hymns. It preserves many non-Aryan elements. The hymns are means for warding off evil and demons.

Source: india21.weebly.com

Economy

During the Rigveda period, the main economic activities were combination of agriculture and pastoralism, though agriculture dominated the economic activity along the Ganges valley during this period. Rice, wheat and barley were cultivated. Agricultural operations grew in complexity and usage of iron implements increased during this period. War plunder was considered as the main source of wealth. Economic exchanges were practiced by giving to the king and priest, and barter system using cattle as a unit of exchange. There was no individual property ownership, as a whole clan had rights over herds and lands. Gold is mention on some hymns, but there is no indication of gold used as a coin during the period. Metallurgy is not mention on Rig Veda, however Ayas tools like razor, axe and bangles are mention. One of the most important changes that took place in history is the transition that took place during Vedic society- from semi-nomadic life to settle agriculture in the later Vedic age. During this period new occupations such as pottery, carpentry, tanning, leather work, dying, jewellery, winemaking and astrology arose.

Polity

During the Rig Vedic period, gram or the village vish and jana are the constituent of political unit. Jana was the biggest unit, and then came the Vish and grama. The leader of the grama was called Gramini, of the vish called vishapati and that of the Jana was called Jesta. The rashtra was governed by a Raja and he was known as Gopa which is protector and Samrat, meaning the supreme ruler. With the approval and consensus of the people, the king ruled his kingdom. The king’s duty was to protect the community with the assistance of the army chief and the priest. Out of the four councils which are Sabha, Vidhata, Gana and Samiti, women were allowed to attend only two councils, namely Vidhata and Sabha.

Society

Society was egalitarian in nature, there was absent of distinct division of society into socio-economic class was absent. Political hierarchy was organized with the king or the raja at the top. The words Brahmans and the kshtriya are found at the various family books in Rig Veda, however they do not denote Verna. And the words vaises and sudra are absent in Rig Vedic. The family pattern of the Vedic was narrow. Institute of family was important, there are different types of marriage, polygyny, monogamy and polyandry are mention. There are both male and female sages, however male sages are dominant. Women could chose there husband or remarriage if there husband are dead or disappears. Even if wives are subordinate to their husband, they enjoy a respectable position in the families.

With the development of monarchal state in the later vedic, the verna system begin to emerge in the society, and the society was divided into four social groups, namely Brahmanas, Kshtriyas, vaishya and sudra. The later vedic text prescribe definite duty and role purity for each of the group. The Brahmanas are associated with purity of parentage, good conduct and glory. Kshatriyas are associated with renowned ruling, warfare and strength. The third social group, Vaishya is linked with production related activities like rearing cattles, agriculture undertakings and material prosperity. The last in the order, Sudras are given the task of serving the higher verna. Rajasuya sacrifice, which is the king’s induction sacrifice, is mainly carried out by the bramanas along with luster kshatria, velour vaishya with protective power and finally Sudra with stability.

Source: www.slideshare.net

In the later Vedic age, household became an important unit in the society. There were many variations of households during the Rig Vedic era which pave the way to the rise of an idealized household headed by a grihapati meaning the lord or master of the household. The relationships between father and son as well as husband and wife were hierarchically organized in the family. Women were consigned to subordinate and submissive roles in family and society. Because of the nature of the society, the practice of Polygyny was more common than polyandry. There are also ancient texts which indicate taboos surrounding menstruating women. Women were engaged in various professions as mentioned in the later Vedic texts. Women are involved in rearing cattle and milking cows. They carded wool and were corn grinders, dyers and weavers. There was also mention of women as warriors in ancient text. Some women were engaged in theological matters which indicate that at least women of some social strata occupy relatively high religious and social position during this period.

During the early Vedic period, there were several social changes that took place. Social stratification started, with the Brahmins at the top strata followed by the Kshatriyas. Shudras and the Vaisyas were considered to be lower than the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas. The concept of Varna was formed and the regulation of marriage was made more rigid. The families were patriarchal and preference of sons over daughter was evident from this period. Bulls and cows were considered to be of religious significance. There was also advances and expansion in agricultural sector during this period.

Religion

The modern form of Hinduism evolves from Vedic religious form and belief. There are four Vedas which are considered to be books that were prevailing during the time. Bramanas, Aryankas, and the older Upanished are also considered to be Vedic. It records the ritual and sacrifices perform by the priest known as the Purohit. The rishis, the composers of the hymns of the Rig-Veda, were considered inspired poets and seers. Performance of sacrifices symbolized the form of worship. Chanting of Rigvedic verse, singing and mumbling sacrificing mantra were involved sacrifice accompanied by the chanting of the Vedic mantras.

Source: History Pak Lets Share Our Heritage and History More- www.historypak.com

The ceremonial act of offering materials is called Yajna, which is derived from the Sanskrit word Yaj. It has a threefold connotation, which is worship of deities, unity and charity. The whole thing that is offered into the fire is believed to reach the deity or deities worshiped by the people. A vital element of the ritual is the ceremonial fire known as the divine Agni, into which oblations are poured. People prayed for various need such as long life and abundance of cattle, rain, and sons. Peepal tree and cow or bulls were considered sacred by the people. The relationship between the deity and humans was one of transaction, with the divine Agni taking the role of messenger between the deity and humans.

The ancient Vedic religion progressed into the Hindu paths of Vedanta and Yoga, a spiritual pathway considering itself as the essence of the Vedas. The post-Vedic believes and traditions as well as the later texts like Upanishads, epics, have been entirely conserved which form the foundation of modern Hinduism.

References

• Jha D.N. 2005. Early India: A Concise History. Manohar Publishers, Delhi
• MSW-001 course material, IGNOU. 2011. Origin and Development of Social Work. IGNOU Delhi
• Bharati K.S. 1991. The social philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. Concept publisher, New Delhi
• Herbert B. 1992. The philosophy of social work, public affair bureau Washington D.C
• Encyclopedia of social work in India. 1987, Vol3, Publication Division Government of India

Suggested readings

• “Indus Civilization.” The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 1992 ed.
• John Keay, India: A History, 2nd Ed – Revised and Updated, Grove Press / Harper Collins, 2011
• Mohammada, Malika: The foundations of the composite culture in India, Aakar Books. 2007
• Robert Redfield. Peasant Society and Culture: An Anthropological Approach to Civilization. The University of Chicago Press
• Schellinger, Paul, et al., eds. International Dictionary of Historical Places. Vol. 5. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1996.
• Spodek, Howard. The World’s History. Volume 1: to 1500. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc., 1998. Vijay S. Upadhyay, Gaya Pandey. History of Anthropological Thought. Concept Publishing Company. 1993