Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies, Class 12 History

What Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE) is about

Weightage: Themes in Indian History Part I carries 25 of the 80 theory marks; this chapter shares them with Bricks, Beads and Bones: The Harappan Civilisation, Kinship, Caste and Class: Early Societies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE), Thinkers and Beliefs and Buildings: Cultural Developments (c. 600 BCE-600 CE). A separate 5-mark map question covers the map items of all three books.Source: CBSE History (027) syllabus 2026-27, course structure

Key concepts

Prinsep, Piyadassi and the study of inscriptions

NCERT section 1. Prinsep and Piyadassi; Inscriptions box

Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions. Inscriptions are texts cut into hard materials like stone, metal or pottery. They record achievements, activities or ideas of those who commissioned them: the exploits of kings or donations to religious institutions. They are virtually permanent; some carry dates, others are dated by palaeography (styles of writing).

In the 1830s, James Prinsep, who worked in the East India Company's mint, deciphered the Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts. Most inscriptions mentioned a king called Piyadassi ("pleasant to behold"); a few also called him Asoka.

This gave a new direction to research: by the early twentieth century, the broad outline of political history was in place. Scholars then asked how political change was connected with economic and social change, and found links that were not always simple or direct.

The earliest inscriptions were in Prakrit, the languages of ordinary people; so names like Ajatasattu and Asoka are spelt in Prakrit forms. Pali, Tamil and Sanskrit were also used.

Worked example

What are inscriptions, and how are undated inscriptions dated? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Inscriptions are writings engraved on hard surfaces such as stone, metal or pottery, recording the achievements, activities or ideas of those who commissioned them.
2. Undated ones are dated by palaeography, the study of changing styles of writing, with fair precision.

Answer: Engraved records on hard surfaces; undated ones are dated through palaeography.

The sixteen mahajanapadas

NCERT section 2.1 The sixteen mahajanapadas

The sixth century BCE is often seen as a turning point: early states, cities, growing use of iron, coinage, and new systems of thought including Buddhism and Jainism.

Early Buddhist and Jaina texts list sixteen mahajanapadas. Lists vary, but Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara and Avanti appear often, so they were among the most important. *Janapada* means the land where a *jana* (a people, clan or tribe) settles.

Salient features:

• Most were ruled by kings. Some, called ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies: power was shared by a number of men, often called *rajas*. Mahavira and the Buddha belonged to such ganas. In the Vajji sangha, the rajas probably controlled resources like land collectively. Some lasted nearly a thousand years.
• Each had a capital city, often fortified.
• Forts, armies and bureaucracies needed resources. From the sixth century BCE, Brahmanas composed Sanskrit Dharmasutras, which set norms for rulers (ideally Kshatriyas) and advised them to collect taxes and tribute from cultivators, traders and artisans. Raids on neighbours were accepted as a legitimate way to gain wealth.
• Gradually some states had standing armies and regular bureaucracies; others depended on militia, usually recruited from the peasantry.

Worked example

Describe any three salient features of the mahajanapadas. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Most were ruled by kings, but some, the ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies where a group of rajas shared power, sometimes controlling land collectively.
2. Each had a capital city, often fortified.
3. Rulers, guided by the Dharmasutras, collected taxes and tribute from cultivators, traders and artisans; some kept standing armies and bureaucracies while others used militia from the peasantry.

Answer: Monarchies and oligarchies (ganas/sanghas); fortified capitals; taxes and tribute guided by the Dharmasutras, with standing armies or peasant militia.

Magadha: first amongst the sixteen

NCERT section 2.2 First amongst the sixteen: Magadha

Between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE, Magadha (present-day Bihar) became the most powerful mahajanapada.

Explanations of modern historians:

• Agriculture was especially productive.
• Iron mines (in present-day Jharkhand) were accessible for tools and weapons.
• Elephants, important for the army, lived in the region's forests.
• The Ganga and its tributaries gave cheap and convenient communication.

Explanation of early Buddhist and Jaina writers: the policies of individuals: ruthlessly ambitious kings, best known being Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Mahapadma Nanda, and their ministers.

Capitals: first Rajagaha (Prakrit for Rajgir in Bihar, meaning "house of the king"), a fortified settlement among hills. In the fourth century BCE the capital moved to Pataliputra (Patna), which commanded routes along the Ganga.

Worked example

Compare the explanations given by early writers and by modern historians for the rise of Magadha. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Early Buddhist and Jaina writers credited individuals: ambitious kings such as Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Mahapadma Nanda and their ministers.
2. Modern historians point to resources: productive agriculture, iron mines in present-day Jharkhand and forest elephants for the army.
3. They also stress geography: the Ganga and its tributaries gave cheap and convenient communication.

Answer: Early writers: great kings and ministers. Modern historians: fertile land, iron, elephants and river communication.

The Mauryan Empire and its sources

NCERT section 3. An Early Empire; 3.1 Finding out about the Mauryas

Magadha's growth culminated in the Mauryan Empire. Chandragupta Maurya founded it (c. 321 BCE) and extended control as far north-west as Afghanistan and Baluchistan. His grandson Asoka conquered Kalinga (coastal Orissa).

Sources:

• Archaeological finds, especially sculpture.
• The account of Megasthenes, a Greek ambassador to Chandragupta's court, surviving in fragments.
• The Arthashastra, parts of which were probably composed by Kautilya or Chanakya, traditionally Chandragupta's minister.
• Later Buddhist, Jaina and Puranic literature and Sanskrit literary works.
• The inscriptions of Asoka (c. 272/268-231 BCE) on rocks and pillars, often regarded as among the most valuable.

Asoka was the first ruler to inscribe messages to subjects and officials on stone. He used them to proclaim dhamma: respect for elders, generosity towards Brahmanas and renouncers, kind treatment of slaves and servants, and respect for other religions and traditions.

Languages and scripts: most Asokan inscriptions were in Prakrit, in Brahmi script; some in the north-west used Kharosthi; in Afghanistan, Aramaic and Greek were used.

Worked example

Why are Asoka's inscriptions considered among the most valuable sources for the Mauryas? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. They are contemporary records issued by the ruler himself, engraved on rocks and pillars across the empire.
2. They state his ideas (dhamma) and arrangements directly, and their spread shows the extent of the empire.

Answer: They are the ruler's own contemporary, durable records, spread across the empire, giving his policies in his own words.

Administering the Mauryan Empire

NCERT section 3.2 Administering the empire; Sources 1 and 2

Five major political centres: the capital Pataliputra and the provincial centres Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri, all mentioned in Asokan inscriptions.

The same message is engraved everywhere, from the North West Frontier Provinces of Pakistan to Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Uttarakhand. Yet a uniform administration is unlikely: the regions were too diverse (think of hilly Afghanistan and coastal Orissa). Control was probably strongest near the capital and provincial centres, which were carefully chosen: Taxila and Ujjayini on long-distance trade routes; Suvarnagiri ("golden mountain") possibly for the gold mines of Karnataka.

Communication and the army: journeys to provinces took weeks or months, so travellers needed provisions and protection. Megasthenes mentions a committee with six subcommittees for the military: navy; transport and provisions; foot-soldiers; horses; chariots; elephants. The second arranged bullock carts, food and fodder, and servants and artisans.

Officials (Megasthenes, Source 1): they supervised rivers, measured land, inspected sluices so that water was shared equally, oversaw huntsmen, collected taxes and supervised woodcutters, carpenters, blacksmiths and miners.

The Arthashastra (Source 2) gives minute details of administration, such as capturing elephants with the help of trained female elephants. Greek sources give the Mauryan army as 600,000 foot-soldiers, 30,000 cavalry and 9,000 elephants, figures some historians think are exaggerated.

Dhamma also held the empire together: special officers, dhamma mahamatta, spread its message.

Worked example

Why do historians think the Mauryan Empire did not have a uniform administrative system? (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The empire covered very diverse regions, such as the hilly terrain of Afghanistan and the coast of Orissa.
2. Control was likely strongest around the capital and the four provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri.
3. Journeys from the centre took weeks or months, so control over distant regions was harder.

Answer: Diversity of regions, control concentrated round the capital and provincial centres, and slow communication over vast distances.

How important was the Mauryan Empire?

NCERT section 3.3 How important was the empire?

Why nineteenth- and twentieth-century historians saw it as a landmark:

• India was then under colonial rule; the idea of an early Indian empire was challenging and exciting.
• Mauryan finds, including stone sculpture, were seen as the spectacular art of empires.
• Asoka's message seemed different from other rulers', suggesting he was powerful and industrious yet more humble than later kings with grand titles. Nationalist leaders in the twentieth century found him inspiring.

Why its importance can be questioned:

• It lasted only about 150 years.
• It did not cover the entire subcontinent (Map 2).
• Control within its frontiers was not uniform.
• By the second century BCE, new chiefdoms and kingdoms had emerged in several parts.

Worked example

Give two reasons why nationalist leaders regarded Asoka as an inspiring figure, and two reasons historians now question the importance of the empire. (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Inspiring: an early Indian empire was exciting to people under colonial rule; Asoka's message seemed humble and different from rulers with grand titles.
2. Questioned: the empire lasted only about 150 years and did not cover the whole subcontinent, with uneven control even within it.

Answer: Inspiring: proof of a great early Indian empire and Asoka's humble, industrious image. Questioned: short duration and incomplete, uneven control.

New notions of kingship: chiefs, divine kings and samantas

NCERT section 4. New Notions of Kingship

Chiefs in the south: the chiefdoms of the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas in Tamilakam (the ancient Tamil country, including parts of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala as well as Tamil Nadu) were stable and prosperous. A chief is a powerful man, not always hereditary, supported by kinfolk; he performs rituals, leads in war and settles disputes; he receives gifts (kings usually collect taxes) and redistributes them; there are generally no regular armies or officials. The Tamil Sangam texts describe chiefs. The *Silappadikaram* (Source 3) describes forest people bringing gifts such as ivory, sandalwood, honey, pepper and animals to the chief Senguttuvan.

Trade revenues: the Satavahanas (ruling parts of western and central India from c. second century BCE to second century CE) and the Shakas (of Central Asian origin, in the north-west and west) drew revenue from long-distance trade.

Divine kings: the Kushanas (c. first century BCE-first century CE), ruling from Central Asia to north-west India, projected kingship through coins and sculpture. Colossal statues of Kushana rulers were found in a shrine at Mat near Mathura and in Afghanistan. Many took the title devaputra ("son of god"), possibly inspired by Chinese rulers called sons of heaven.

Samantas and the Guptas: by the fourth century, larger states such as the Gupta Empire relied on samantas, who lived off local resources including land, paid homage and gave military support. Strong samantas could become kings; weak kings could be reduced to subordination.

Prashastis: poems in praise of kings. The Prayaga Prashasti (Allahabad Pillar Inscription), in Sanskrit by Harishena, court poet of Samudragupta (c. fourth century CE), compares him to the gods Kubera, Varuna, Indra and Yama. Such texts were treasured as poetry, not literal fact.

Worked example

How did the Kushanas try to claim a high status? (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. They identified with deities: colossal statues of Kushana rulers were installed in a shrine at Mat near Mathura and in a shrine in Afghanistan, suggesting they saw themselves as godlike.
2. Many took the title devaputra, 'son of god'; the idea may have come from Chinese rulers, who called themselves sons of heaven.
3. Their coins and sculpture projected this image of kingship.

Answer: Through colossal statues in shrines, the title devaputra, and the images on their coins and sculpture.

A changing countryside: kings, peasants and production

NCERT section 5.1-5.3

Popular perceptions of kings: ordinary people rarely left records, so historians use stories in the Jatakas (written in Pali around the middle of the first millennium CE) and the Panchatantra. In the Gandatindu Jataka, a wicked king in disguise hears his subjects curse him: robbers attacked them at night and tax collectors by day, so they left for the forest. Relations between kings and peasants were often strained by high taxes.

Strategies to raise production:

• Plough agriculture spread in fertile alluvial valleys such as the Ganga and Kaveri from c. sixth century BCE; the iron-tipped ploughshare turned alluvial soil in high-rainfall areas.
• Transplantation of paddy in parts of the Ganga valley raised output dramatically, though it was back-breaking.
• The iron plough was not used everywhere: semi-arid parts of Punjab and Rajasthan adopted it only in the twentieth century; hilly tracts in the north-east and centre used hoe agriculture.
• Irrigation through wells and tanks, less often canals; individuals (often kings) recorded such works in inscriptions. The Sudarshana lake at Girnar (Source 5) was built under the Mauryas, repaired by the Shaka ruler Rudradaman (claiming no tax was imposed) and repaired again under a Gupta ruler.

Differences in rural society: Buddhist stories mention landless labourers, small peasants and large landholders; the Pali term gahapati covered the latter two. Large landholders and the village headman (often hereditary) became powerful. Tamil Sangam texts mention vellalar (large landowners), uzhavar (ploughmen) and adimai (slaves). The Manusmriti (Source 6) advised kings to bury hidden boundary markers to settle disputes.

Worked example

What were the uneven effects of new agricultural technologies in this period? (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Production rose through the iron ploughshare, transplantation and irrigation, but benefits were very uneven.
2. Rural society became differentiated: landless labourers, small peasants and large landholders (gahapatis); in Tamil texts, vellalar, uzhavar and adimai.
3. Large landholders and village headmen became powerful and controlled other cultivators; control over land became crucial, as legal texts show.

Answer: Output grew, but access to land, labour and technology was unequal, creating powerful landholders and headmen above labourers and slaves.

Land grants and new rural elites

NCERT section 5.4 Land grants and new rural elites; Source 8

From the early centuries CE, land grants were recorded in inscriptions, mostly on copper plates given to recipients. Surviving records are mainly grants to religious institutions or Brahmanas, mostly in Sanskrit; from the seventh century, some were partly in a local language such as Tamil or Telugu.

Prabhavati Gupta's grant: she was the daughter of Chandragupta II (c. 375-415 CE) and married into the Vakataka family of the Deccan. Sanskrit legal texts did not allow women independent access to land, yet she granted the village of Danguna to the teacher Chanalasvamin. Possible reasons: she was a queen in an exceptional situation, or legal texts were not uniformly followed. The grant made the village an agrahara: exempt from providing grass, hides and charcoal to touring officers, closed to soldiers and policemen, and transferred with the right to taxes. Villagers had to obey the new lord.

An agrahara was land granted to a Brahmana, usually exempt from land revenue and dues, often with the right to collect them.

Debate on land grants:

• One view: a strategy by ruling lineages to extend agriculture to new areas.
• Another view: a sign of weakening political power: kings losing control over samantas tried to win allies through grants, and projected themselves as supermen to keep a façade of power.

Pastoralists, fisherfolk, hunter-gatherers, mobile artisans and shifting cultivators were often beyond the reach of officials or samantas and kept few records.

Worked example

Why is Prabhavati Gupta's land grant considered unusual? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Sanskrit legal texts said women should not have independent access to resources such as land.
2. Yet she had land and granted it, perhaps because, as a queen, her position was exceptional, or because legal texts were not uniformly applied.

Answer: A woman granting land went against the legal texts; her status as a queen, or uneven application of the law, may explain it.

Towns, urban populations and trade

NCERT section 6. Towns and Trade; 6.1-6.3

New cities from c. sixth century BCE, many of them mahajanapada capitals, were located along routes of communication: Pataliputra on a river route, Ujjayini on land routes, Puhar near the coast. Mathura was a busy commercial, cultural and political centre.

Pataliputra's history: a village called Pataligrama; in the fifth century BCE the Magadhan rulers shifted their capital there from Rajagaha and renamed it; by the fourth century BCE it was the Mauryan capital and one of Asia's largest cities; when Xuan Zang visited in the seventh century CE it was in ruins with a small population.

Urban populations: extensive excavation is hard because people still live at these sites. Finds include Northern Black Polished Ware (glossy fine pottery, probably used by the rich), and ornaments, tools, weapons and figurines of gold, silver, copper, bronze, ivory, glass, shell and terracotta. By the second century BCE, short votive inscriptions (records of gifts to religious institutions) name donors and their occupations: washing folk, weavers, scribes, carpenters, potters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, officials, teachers, merchants and kings. Guilds or shrenis probably procured raw materials, regulated production and marketed goods.

Trade: routes ran overland into Central Asia and by sea across the Arabian Sea to East and North Africa and West Asia, and across the Bay of Bengal to Southeast Asia and China. Rulers tried to control routes, perhaps offering protection for a price. Traders included peddlers, caravan merchants and seafarers. Rich merchants were called masattuvan (Tamil) and setthis and satthavahas (Prakrit). Pepper, textiles and medicinal plants were in high demand in the Roman Empire. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (Source 9), by an anonymous Greek sailor (c. first century CE), lists exports of pepper, pearls, ivory, silk cloth and precious stones from the Malabar coast; bead-making at Kodumanal (Tamil Nadu) may have supplied stones.

Worked example

How do votive inscriptions help historians understand urban populations? (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Votive inscriptions record gifts made to religious institutions and name the donor.
2. They often state the donor's occupation, showing that towns had weavers, washing folk, potters, carpenters, scribes, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, officials, teachers of religion, merchants and kings.
3. They also mention guilds or shrenis, which probably organised raw materials, production and marketing.

Answer: They name donors with their occupations and mention guilds, revealing the range of people and economic organisation in towns.

Coins and kings

NCERT section 6.4 Coins and kings

Numismatics is the study of coins: scripts, images, metal and the contexts of finds.

• Punch-marked coins of silver and copper (c. sixth century BCE onwards) were among the earliest, found all over the subcontinent. Symbols linked to dynasties such as the Mauryas suggest kings issued them; merchants, bankers and townspeople may have issued some.
• The Indo-Greeks (north-west, c. second century BCE) issued the first coins with the names and images of rulers.
• The Kushanas issued the first gold coins (c. first century CE), virtually identical in weight to those of the Roman emperors and the Parthian rulers of Iran, found in north India and Central Asia. Wide use of gold coins shows the high value of transactions.
• Hoards of Roman coins in south India show trade networks were not confined to political boundaries.
• The Yaudheyas, a tribal republic of Punjab and Haryana (c. first century CE), issued several thousand copper coins.
• Gupta gold coins were spectacular; the earliest were remarkably pure.

Debate: from c. sixth century CE gold coin finds taper off. Some historians link this to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and decline of long-distance trade. Others point to new towns and trade networks, note that coins are still mentioned in texts and inscriptions, and ask whether coins were simply circulating rather than being hoarded.

Worked example

"Fewer gold coins are found after the sixth century CE." Present the two views of historians on what this means. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. View 1: the collapse of the Western Roman Empire caused long-distance trade to decline, hurting regions that had prospered from it.
2. View 2: new towns and trade networks were emerging; coins continue to be mentioned in inscriptions and texts.
3. So fewer finds may only mean coins were in circulation rather than hoarded.

Answer: Either a decline in long-distance trade after Rome's fall, or continued exchange with coins circulating instead of being hoarded; historians are divided.

Deciphering scripts and the limits of inscriptions

NCERT section 7. Back to Basics; 8. The Limitations of Inscriptional Evidence

Brahmi: most modern Indian scripts derive from it. From the late eighteenth century, European scholars helped by Indian pandits worked backwards from Bengali and Devanagari manuscripts, comparing letters with older specimens. Some wrongly assumed early inscriptions were in Sanskrit; they were in Prakrit. Prinsep deciphered Asokan Brahmi in 1838.

Kharosthi: used in the north-west. Coins of Indo-Greek kings (c. second-first centuries BCE) carry names in Greek and Kharosthi; scholars who could read Greek compared letters (for example, in the name Apollodotus). Prinsep identified the language as Prakrit, so longer inscriptions could be read.

Reading Asoka critically:

• The inscriptions use titles devanampiya ("beloved of the gods") and piyadassi; matching content, style, language and palaeography with inscriptions that name Asoka shows one ruler issued them.
• Claims must be tested: Asoka says earlier rulers had no arrangement to receive reports (Source 10, the pativedakas who report at all times).
• Epigraphists add words in brackets to clarify meaning, carefully.
• Could passers-by read them? Most were probably not literate, and Prakrit of Pataliputra may not have been understood everywhere.
• The Kalinga inscription (Source 11) records 150,000 deported, 100,000 killed and Asoka's repentance; yet it has not been found in Orissa, the conquered region itself.

Limitations: faint or damaged letters; uncertain meanings of words; thousands not yet deciphered, published or translated; many lost; everyday life and routine farming rarely recorded; inscriptions project the view of those who commissioned them. So epigraphy alone cannot give a full history. Historians' interests have shifted from kings (late nineteenth century) to economic and social change (mid-twentieth) and to marginalised groups (recent decades).

Worked example

List three problems faced by epigraphists. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Technical: letters faintly engraved, damaged or missing, so reconstructions are uncertain.
2. Meaning: the exact sense of words may be specific to a place or time, and scholars debate readings.
3. Coverage: many inscriptions are not yet deciphered or published, many have not survived, and those that survive record grand events from the viewpoint of those who commissioned them.

Answer: Damaged or faint letters, uncertain meanings, and incomplete, one-sided coverage of the past.

Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE) in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• Inscriptions and James Prinsep
• Mahajanapadas and the Rise of Magadha
• The Mauryan Empire and Its Administration

Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE): key facts

Period and phases

c. 600 BCE-600 CE: mahajanapadas, Magadha, Mauryas, post-Mauryan kingdoms, Guptas

Sixth century BCE: early states, cities, iron, coinage, Buddhism and Jainism.

Most frequently listed mahajanapadas

Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara, Avanti

All seven are on the official map list (Kosala spelling in the syllabus).

Magadha's rise

Fertile land + iron (Jharkhand) + elephants + Ganga routes; kings Bimbisara, Ajatasattu, Mahapadma Nanda

Capital: Rajagaha (Rajgir), then Pataliputra (Patna) in the fourth century BCE.

Mauryan political centres

Pataliputra (capital); Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali, Suvarnagiri (provincial)

Taxila and Ujjayini on trade routes; Suvarnagiri for Karnataka gold.

Megasthenes' six military subcommittees

Navy; transport and provisions; foot-soldiers; horses; chariots; elephants

Greek figures: 600,000 foot, 30,000 cavalry, 9,000 elephants (possibly exaggerated).

Asoka's dhamma

Respect elders; generosity to Brahmanas and renouncers; kindness to slaves and servants; respect for other religions

Spread by dhamma mahamatta.

Asokan scripts

Prakrit in Brahmi (most); Kharosthi (north-west); Aramaic and Greek (Afghanistan)

Brahmi deciphered by Prinsep, 1838.

Timeline 1 (political)

Chandragupta	c. 321 BCE
Asoka	c. 272/268-231 BCE
End of Mauryas	c. 185 BCE
Kanishka	c. 78 CE?
Guptas begin	c. 320 CE
Samudragupta	c. 335-375 CE
Chandragupta II	c. 375-415 CE
Harshavardhana	c. 606-647 CE

Kanishka's date is uncertain (marked ?).

Timeline 2 (epigraphy)

Asiatic Society	1784
Mackenzie	over 8,000 inscriptions, 1810s
Prinsep	1838
Cunningham publishes Asokan inscriptions	1877
Epigraphia Carnatica	1886
Epigraphia Indica	1888
D.C. Sircar	1965-66

Useful for chronology MCQs.

Rural terms

Gahapati (household head, owner); vellalar (large landowners), uzhavar (ploughmen), adimai (slaves); agrahara (land granted to a Brahmana)

Gahapati also marked urban elite such as rich merchants.

Coins sequence

1. 1.Punch-marked silver/copper (c. 6th c. BCE)
2. 2.Indo-Greek names and images (c. 2nd c. BCE)
3. 3.Kushana gold (c. 1st c. CE)
4. 4.Yaudheya copper
5. 5.Gupta gold

Roman coin hoards in south India show trade beyond political borders.

Merchant terms

Masattuvan (Tamil); setthis, satthavahas (Prakrit); shrenis = guilds

Peddlers, caravans and seafarers traversed the routes.

Key sources of the chapter

Megasthenes; Arthashastra; Silappadikaram; Prayaga Prashasti (Harishena); Sudarshana lake inscription (Rudradaman); Manusmriti; Harshacharita (Banabhatta); Prabhavati Gupta's grant; Periplus; Asoka's edicts

Any one can be the Section D source.

Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE): map work

The places on the official CBSE map list for this chapter. Find each one on an outline map of India and practise marking it.

How the board asks Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE)

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE)

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• Seven common mahajanapadas

  "Very Many Kings Keep Pretty Good Armies": Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara, Avanti.

  Use it when: MCQs and map items.

• Magadha's four natural strengths

  FIRE: Fertile land, Iron, Rivers, Elephants.

  Use it when: 3-mark answer on Magadha's rise.

• Mauryan centres

  "Pretty Tigers Use Their Strength": Pataliputra, Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali, Suvarnagiri.

  Use it when: Administration answers and map questions.

• Six military boards

  "No True Fighter Has Cheap Elephants": Navy, Transport, Foot-soldiers, Horses, Chariots, Elephants.

  Use it when: Megasthenes questions.

• Coin ladder

  Punch (silver, copper) -> Picture (Indo-Greek names and images) -> Pure gold (Kushana, then Gupta).

  Use it when: Sequence MCQs on coinage.

• Chief vs king

  A chief Gets Gifts; a King Collects taxes.

  Use it when: Kingship answers.

Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE): board-level solved questions

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section E style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In the board paper this is a 4-mark question split into 1 + 1 + 2 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE)

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Confusing the two Chandraguptas

  Both names appear in the chapter.

  Wrong working

  Prabhavati Gupta was the daughter of Chandragupta Maurya.

  Right working

  Prabhavati Gupta was the daughter of Chandragupta II (c. 375-415 CE), a Gupta ruler.

  ✓Do this: Tag them: Chandragupta Maurya c. 321 BCE (founder of the Mauryas); Chandragupta II c. 375-415 CE (Gupta).

  Usually costs: 1 mark, and credibility in a source answer.

• ✗Mistake: Treating a prashasti as literal history

  Students quote the praise as fact.

  Wrong working

  Samudragupta was equal to Kubera, Varuna, Indra and Yama.

  Right working

  Harishena's poem compares Samudragupta to the gods; historians read prashastis as poetry and extract facts with care.

  ✓Do this: Always add how historians treat the source.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks in a 2-mark source part.

• ✗Mistake: Saying the Mauryan Empire had a uniform administration

  The same inscriptions everywhere suggest uniform rule.

  ✓Do this: State that the message was uniform but administration was probably strongest round the capital and provincial centres, because the regions were very diverse.

  Usually costs: 2 marks in an 8-mark answer.

• ✗Mistake: Writing only a list of mahajanapada names for 'salient features'

  Students confuse 'name' with 'describe'.

  ✓Do this: Features mean: monarchies and oligarchies, fortified capitals, taxes guided by Dharmasutras, armies and bureaucracies, raids as legitimate wealth.

  Usually costs: Most of a 3-mark answer.

• ✗Mistake: Mixing up chiefs and kings

  Both rule, so students treat them as the same.

  Wrong working

  Chiefs collected taxes through officials and armies.

  Right working

  Chiefs received gifts and redistributed them, generally without regular armies or officials; kings usually collected taxes.

  ✓Do this: Remember: chief = gifts; king = taxes.

  Usually costs: 1 mark in an MCQ; 1-2 marks in a kingship answer.

• ✗Mistake: Marking map items in the wrong region

  Many Ganga valley names cluster together.

  ✓Do this: Learn from west to east along the Ganga: Kuru, Panchala, Kosala-Shravasti, Varanasi, Vajji-Vaishali, Magadha-Rajgir.

  Usually costs: 1 mark per item in the map question.

NCERT exercise guide: Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE)

What each exercise in the NCERT chapter tests, how to approach it, and a question of the same kind solved step by step. Questions here are written in our own words.

Practice questions on Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE)

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   Which of the following was a gana or sangha in which the rajas probably controlled land collectively?
   (a) Magadha
   (b) Vajji
   (c) Avanti
   (d) Gandhara

   Hint

   Mahavira and the Buddha belonged to such ganas.

   Answer

   (b) Vajji.

2. Q2 · 1 mark · MCQHarder board level

   Match:
   A. Devaputra 1. Land granted to a Brahmana
   B. Agrahara 2. Son of god
   C. Shreni 3. Owner or head of a household
   D. Gahapati 4. Guild
   (a) A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3
   (b) A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4
   (c) A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3
   (d) A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2

   Hint

   Kushana title; Brahmana land; craft organisation; household head.

   Answer

   (a) A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3.

3. Q3 · 1 mark · MCQHarder board level

   Arrange chronologically: (i) Samudragupta; (ii) Accession of Chandragupta Maurya; (iii) Harshavardhana king of Kanauj; (iv) End of the Mauryan empire.
   (a) ii, iv, i, iii
   (b) ii, i, iv, iii
   (c) iv, ii, i, iii
   (d) ii, iv, iii, i

   Hint

   c. 321 BCE, c. 185 BCE, c. 335-375 CE, c. 606-647 CE.

   Answer

   (a) ii, iv, i, iii.

4. Q4 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonBoard level

   Assertion (A): Kharosthi was deciphered with the help of Indo-Greek coins.
   Reason (R): These coins carry kings' names in both Greek and Kharosthi scripts.
   Choose (a)-(d).

   Hint

   Scholars who could read Greek compared letters.

   Answer

   (a) Both are true and R explains A.

5. Q5 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   Who issued the first coins bearing the names and images of rulers?
   (a) Mauryas
   (b) Kushanas
   (c) Indo-Greeks
   (d) Guptas

   Hint

   North-west, c. second century BCE.

   Answer

   (c) Indo-Greeks.

6. Q6 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

   What were the Dharmasutras, and what did they advise rulers? (2 marks)

   Hint

   Brahmanas composed them from the sixth century BCE.

   Answer

   Sanskrit texts composed by Brahmanas from c. sixth century BCE laying down norms for rulers and other social categories. They advised rulers, ideally Kshatriyas, to collect taxes and tribute from cultivators, traders and artisans.

7. Q7 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

   How do historians reconstruct the lives of ordinary people of this period? (3 marks)

   Hint

   Stories, inscriptions, archaeology.

   Answer

   Ordinary people rarely left records, so historians use story collections such as the Jatakas and Panchatantra (for example, the Gandatindu Jataka on oppressive taxes); votive inscriptions naming donors' occupations; land-grant inscriptions describing villagers' obligations; texts like the Harshacharita describing a forest village; and archaeological finds from towns such as pottery and tools.

8. Q8 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   Compare the gifts brought to the Pandya chief Senguttuvan (Source 3) with the produce of the village of Danguna (Source 8). (3 marks)

   Hint

   Forest products versus village obligations.

   Answer

   Senguttuvan received forest products and animals (ivory, fragrant wood, honey, sandalwood, spices, fruits, baby tigers, elephants) offered as gifts by forest people, as the defeated honour a victor. Danguna produced grass, hides, charcoal, flowers, milk, liquor and salt, owed as obligations to touring officers and later to the donee. Similarity: both show rulers drawing on local produce. Difference: the chief received voluntary-looking gifts and redistributed them; the village owed fixed dues under a state system.

9. Q9 · 8 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

   The epigraphist D.C. Sircar held that every aspect of the life, culture and activities of Indians is reflected in inscriptions. Discuss. (8 marks)

   Hint

   Agree with what inscriptions do show, then use the limitations.

   Answer

   For: inscriptions record kings' exploits and titles (Asoka, Samudragupta), administration (provincial centres, pativedakas, dhamma mahamatta), religious ideas (dhamma), irrigation (Sudarshana lake), land grants and rural obligations (Prabhavati Gupta), urban occupations and guilds (votive inscriptions), women donors (Nagapiya at Mathura) and languages and scripts. Against: technical problems (faint, damaged letters); uncertain meanings; many not deciphered, published or surviving; routine agriculture and daily joys and sorrows are not recorded; they focus on grand events; they project the view of those who commissioned them; groups such as pastoralists and hunter-gatherers left few records. Conclusion: inscriptions reflect a remarkably wide range of activity but must be combined with texts, coins and archaeology; epigraphy alone cannot give a full history.

10. Q10 · 8 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

    To what extent were agricultural practices transformed between c. 600 BCE and 600 CE? (8 marks)

    Hint

    Changes, where they did not happen, and social effects.

    Answer

    Changes: iron-tipped ploughshare in the Ganga and Kaveri valleys from c. sixth century BCE; paddy transplantation raised yields in parts of the Ganga valley; irrigation through wells, tanks and canals, built by communities and individuals including kings (Sudarshana lake); land grants extended cultivation to new areas. Limits: semi-arid Punjab and Rajasthan did not adopt the plough till the twentieth century; hilly north-east and central areas used hoe agriculture; the Harshacharita shows spade culture in the Vindhyas. Social effects: growing differentiation (landless labourers, small peasants, large landholders or gahapatis; vellalar, uzhavar, adimai); powerful headmen; disputes over land and boundary markers (Manusmriti); new rural elites through agraharas. Conclusion: transformation was real but uneven by region and by class.

11. Q11 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

    Suppose two coins are found at a site: one of gold matching Roman weights, one of copper issued by a tribal republic. Which rulers could have issued each, and what would each tell a numismatist? (3 marks)

    Hint

    Kushanas and Yaudheyas.

    Answer

    The gold coin could be Kushana (c. first century CE), virtually identical in weight to Roman and Parthian coins; it shows high-value, long-distance transactions. The copper coin could be Yaudheya, a tribal republic of Punjab and Haryana; several thousand such coins show the Yaudheyas' interest and participation in economic exchanges.

12. Q12 · 3 marks · Map workHarder board level

    On an outline map, mark: (a) the Asokan pillar inscription site in Madhya Pradesh that is also a Buddhist site; (b) the capital of Avanti; (c) the port in western India named Bharukachchha. (3 marks)

    Hint

    Sanchi; Ujjayini; modern Bharuch.

    Answer

    (a) Sanchi, in central Madhya Pradesh near Vidisha. (b) Ujjain (Ujjayini), western Madhya Pradesh. (c) Bharukachchha, on the Gujarat coast at the mouth of the Narmada (modern Bharuch).

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.What does 'piyadassi' mean?Show answer

   Pleasant to behold.

2. 2.Who deciphered Asokan Brahmi and when?Show answer

   James Prinsep, in 1838.

3. 3.What were the two capitals of Magadha?Show answer

   Rajagaha (Rajgir), then Pataliputra (Patna) from the fourth century BCE.

4. 4.What is Tamilakam?Show answer

   The ancient Tamil country, including parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh and Kerala as well as Tamil Nadu.

5. 5.Who repaired the Sudarshana lake without, he claimed, taxing his subjects?Show answer

   The Shaka ruler Rudradaman (c. second century CE).

6. 6.What is Northern Black Polished Ware?Show answer

   Fine glossy pottery bowls and dishes found in early historic cities, probably used by rich people.

7. 7.Who wrote the Harshacharita?Show answer

   Banabhatta, court poet of Harshavardhana of Kanauj (c. seventh century CE).

8. 8.What is numismatics?Show answer

   The study of coins, including scripts, images, metal and the contexts of finds.

9. 9.What were samantas?Show answer

   Men who maintained themselves through local resources including land, paid homage and gave military support to rulers.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Can you list five salient features of the mahajanapadas?
• ☐Can you give both sets of explanations for Magadha's rise?
• ☐Can you name the five Mauryan political centres and why three were chosen?
• ☐Can you list Megasthenes' six military subcommittees?
• ☐Can you state four principles of Asoka's dhamma?
• ☐Can you explain chief versus king, and the devaputra title?
• ☐Can you name three strategies to increase agricultural production and one limit of each?
• ☐Can you explain both views on land grants?
• ☐Can you place punch-marked, Indo-Greek, Kushana, Yaudheya and Gupta coins in order?
• ☐Can you explain how Brahmi and Kharosthi were deciphered and list four limits of inscriptions?

Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE): frequently asked questions