Kings, Farmers and Towns — Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE)
Class 12 History · Themes in Indian History Part I · Chapter 2
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Summary
This chapter traces political and economic change across roughly 1,200 years, drawing on inscriptions, coins, texts and visual material. After the Harappan cities, the Rigveda was composed along the Indus and its tributaries, and from the sixth century BCE early states, the sixteen mahajanapadas, emerged. Magadha rose to dominance, helped by fertile land, iron, elephants and ambitious rulers. The Mauryan empire under Chandragupta and Ashoka was the first major imperial state; Ashoka used inscriptions to spread dhamma, his message of moral order, recorded on pillars and rocks. James Prinsep's decipherment of Brahmi and Kharosthi in the 1830s allowed historians to read these inscriptions and identify the king "Piyadassi" as Ashoka. Later, new kingdoms appeared — the Kushanas, who issued fine gold coins and promoted ideas of divine kingship, the Satavahanas and the Guptas, known through prashastis composed by court poets such as Harishena's account of Samudragupta. Underlying these political changes were shifts in agriculture: use of the plough, irrigation, transplantation of paddy and land grants recorded on copper plates that transferred revenue rights. Trade flourished through towns, ports and guilds, and coins of many metals circulated. The chapter ends by stressing the limits of inscriptional evidence — what was left unrecorded — and how epigraphists work.
Mahajanapadas and the rise of MagadhaThe Mauryan empire and Ashoka's dhammaPrinsep, Brahmi and reading inscriptionsCoins, kings and later dynastiesAgriculture, land grants and towns
Key terms
Mahajanapada
One of sixteen major states or kingdoms that emerged in north India from the sixth century BCE.
Dhamma
Ashoka's message of social and moral conduct, propagated through inscriptions across the Mauryan empire.
Prashasti
A composition in praise of a king, often inscribed, such as the Allahabad pillar account of Samudragupta.
Epigraphy
The study of inscriptions, a key tool for reconstructing early Indian political and economic history.
Brahmi
The script in which most Ashokan inscriptions were written, deciphered by James Prinsep in the 1830s.
Land grant
A transfer of land or revenue rights, often to brahmanas, recorded on copper plates.
Extra questions & answers
Try one from this chapter
The sixteen major states that emerged in north India from the sixth century BCE were called