NCERT Solutions Class 12 History Chapter 2 Kings, Farmers and Towns

Concept used. Early Historic cities are the towns that grew from about the sixth century BCE (Theme 2). The answer has two parts: first list the evidence for crafts in these cities, then contrast that evidence with the kind found in Harappan cities (Theme 1).

Evidence of craft production in Early Historic cities:

• A wide range of artefacts is recovered: fine pottery bowls and dishes with a glossy finish, called Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW), probably used by the rich.
• Ornaments, tools, weapons, vessels and figurines made of gold, silver, copper, bronze, ivory, glass, shell and terracotta.
• Short votive inscriptions on objects and donations name the donor and sometimes the occupation, so we read directly of washing folk, weavers, scribes, carpenters, potters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths and others.
• Guilds or shrenis (organisations of craftsmen and merchants) are mentioned; they procured raw materials, regulated production and marketed the product.

How this differs from the Harappan evidence:

1. For Early Historic cities we have written sources, inscriptions, texts and coins, naming the very crafts; for Harappan cities the script is undeciphered, so crafts are known only from material remains (waste, drills, kilns).
2. Most Early Historic sites are still inhabited, so extensive excavation is hard; the Harappan cities were abandoned, which allowed full-scale digging.

Early Historic cities show crafts through NBPW pottery, varied metal and ivory objects, donor-named votive inscriptions and guilds (shrenis). Unlike Harappa, here writing names the crafts directly, but the sites are still lived in, so excavation is limited.

Concept used. A mahajanapada is a ``great realm.'' The word janapada means the land where a jana (a people, clan or tribe) settles. From the sixth century BCE, early Buddhist and Jaina texts list sixteen such states. ``Salient features'' means the main, defining points; cover government, capitals, resources and law.

1. Sixteen states, some names recurring. The lists vary, but names like Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara and Avanti occur often, so these were among the most important.
2. Two kinds of rule. Most mahajanapadas were ruled by kings; but some, the ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies where power was shared by many men, often called rajas. Both Mahavira and the Buddha belonged to such ganas. In the Vajji sangha the rajas probably held land collectively.
3. Fortified capital cities. Each mahajanapada had a capital, which was often fortified. Maintaining these forts, and early armies and bureaucracies, needed steady resources.
4. Norms laid down for rulers. From the sixth century BCE, Brahmanas composed the Dharmasutras in Sanskrit. These said rulers should ideally be Kshatriyas, and advised them to collect taxes and tribute from cultivators, traders and artisans. Raids on neighbours were seen as a legitimate way to get wealth.
5. Armies. Some states kept standing armies and regular bureaucracies; others relied on militia recruited from the peasantry.

Sixteen mahajanapadas (Vajji, Magadha, Koshala and others), some ruled by kings and some run as ganas/sanghas (oligarchies). Each had a fortified capital, needed taxes and tribute from cultivators, traders and artisans, followed Dharmasutra norms (rulers ideally Kshatriyas), and was defended by standing armies or peasant militia.

Concept used. Ordinary people, peasants, herders, labourers, women, rarely left their own records. Inscriptions usually speak for kings and donors. So historians reconstruct ordinary lives indirectly, by reading several kinds of source against each other.

1. Stories and anthologies. Collections such as the Jatakas (written in Pali, c. mid first millennium CE) and the Panchatantra began as popular oral tales. The Gandatindu Jataka, for example, describes the plight of a wicked king's subjects, elderly people, cultivators, herders and village boys, attacked by robbers at night and tax collectors by day, who flee to the forest. Such stories reveal the strained tie between kings and the rural poor.
2. Inscriptions, read for the people in them. Land-grant and votive inscriptions, though commissioned by the powerful, still name peasants (gramakutumbinas), Brahmanas, washing folk, weavers, scribes and others, giving glimpses of who lived and worked in villages and towns.
3. Texts on rural society. Buddhist texts mention landless labourers, small peasants and large landholders; the Pali term gahapati marks the second and third. Early Tamil Sangam texts name vellalar (large landowners), uzhavar (ploughmen) and adimai (slaves).
4. Archaeology. Tools, pottery and the spread of plough agriculture and irrigation fill in the material side of daily life.

Historians reconstruct ordinary lives indirectly: from Jataka and Panchatantra stories, from peasants and workers named in inscriptions, from Buddhist and Sangam texts on rural ranks (gahapati, vellalar, uzhavar, adimai), and from archaeology, all read together because ordinary people left few records of their own.

Concept used. This is a source-comparison question. You read two short excerpts, Source 3 (the Silappadikaram, gifts to the Pandyan chief Senguttuvan) and Source 8 (Prabhavati Gupta's inscription on the village of Danguna), and set their lists of things side by side to find what is alike and what differs.

What each source lists:

• Source 3 (gifts to the Pandyan chief): mostly forest produce, ivory, fragrant and sandalwood, deer-hair fans, honey, red ochre, antimony, turmeric, cardamom, pepper, coconuts, mangoes, fruits, sugarcane, flowers, areca nut, bananas, and many wild animals, baby tigers, lions, elephants, monkeys, bear, deer, peacocks, speaking parrots.
• Source 8 (village of Danguna): mainly agricultural and settled-village produce owed as dues, grass, animal hides, charcoal, fermenting liquors, salt, mines, khadira trees, flowers and milk, along with major and minor taxes.

Similarities:

1. Both are lists of goods owed or given to a person in authority, a chief in one case, the donee (the teacher Chanalasvamin) in the other.
2. Both include some forest and natural products (flowers appear in both; Danguna's grass, charcoal and hides come from forest and pasture).

Differences:

1. Source of the goods. Source 3 is overwhelmingly wild, forest and hunted produce; Source 8 is mostly the produce and dues of a settled agricultural village.
2. Nature of the transfer. Source 3 lists gifts brought to a chief (chiefs receive gifts); Source 8 lists taxes, dues and exemptions in a formal land grant (kings/donees collect dues).

Source 3 is largely forest produce and wild animals given as gifts to a chief; Source 8 is mostly village and agricultural dues (grass, hides, salt, milk, taxes) tied to a land grant. Similarity: both transfer goods to an authority and include some natural produce. Difference: gift versus tax, and forest versus farmed produce.

Concept used. Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions, and an epigraphist is the scholar who reads them. The chapter's section on the Limitations of Inscriptional Evidence lists the problems; group them into technical, interpretive and ``what is missing'' problems.

1. Technical problems of reading. Letters are sometimes very faintly engraved, so reconstructions stay uncertain. Inscriptions may be damaged, with letters missing.
2. Problems of meaning. It is not always easy to be sure of the exact meaning of the words, some of which were specific to a particular place or time. Scholars constantly debate alternative readings.
3. Survival and coverage. Of several thousand inscriptions found, not all have been deciphered, published or translated. Many more must once have existed but did not survive the ravages of time, so what we have is only a fraction of what was inscribed.
4. What was never recorded. Not everything significant was put into inscriptions. Routine matters, ordinary agriculture and the everyday joys and sorrows of ordinary people, find no mention; inscriptions focus on grand, unique events.
5. Bias of viewpoint. An inscription almost always projects the perspective of the person who commissioned it, so it must be set beside other sources for a fairer picture.

Problems epigraphists face: faint, damaged or missing letters; uncertain word meanings tied to place and time; many inscriptions still undeciphered or lost, leaving only a fraction; routine daily life left unrecorded; and the in-built bias of the commissioner's viewpoint.

Concept used. The Mauryan Empire (founded by Chandragupta c. 321 BCE) is reconstructed from Megasthenes, the Arthashastra, later literature and, above all, Asoka's inscriptions. ``Main features of administration'' means how the empire was governed; the second part asks which of these features actually show up in the Asokan edicts.

Main features of Mauryan administration:

1. Five major political centres. The capital Pataliputra plus four provincial centres, Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri, all named in Asokan inscriptions. Control was tightest around these centres.
2. Not a uniform system. The empire was too diverse (from Afghanistan's hills to the Orissa coast) to be run identically everywhere; administration was strongest near the capital and the provincial hubs, which sat on key trade routes (Taxila, Ujjayini) or near resources (Suvarnagiri, ``golden mountain,'' near Karnataka gold).
3. The army and military committees. Megasthenes describes a committee with six sub-committees coordinating military activity, navy, transport and provisions, infantry, cavalry, chariots and elephants.
4. Officials supervising land and labour. Megasthenes says officers measured land, inspected irrigation sluices, and oversaw woodcutters, carpenters, blacksmiths and miners; they collected taxes and could reward or punish.
5. Communication. Land and riverine routes linked centre to provinces; journeys took weeks or months, needing provisions and protection.
6. Dhamma and its officers. Asoka tried to hold the empire together by propagating dhamma, and appointed dhamma mahamattas to spread its message.

Which elements appear in the Asokan inscriptions?

• The five political centres are all named in the inscriptions.
• Dhamma and the dhamma mahamattas are proclaimed in the edicts themselves.
• Asoka's concern to govern actively appears in Source 10, where he says pativedakas (reporters) should bring him news of the people's affairs at all times.

Mauryan administration: a capital and four provincial centres (all named by Asoka), a non-uniform system strongest near these hubs, a six-fold military committee and officials over land, labour and taxes, road and river communication, and dhamma spread by dhamma mahamattas. Of these, the five centres, dhamma, the dhamma mahamattas and the pativedakas appear in the Asokan inscriptions; the army committees and land officials come mainly from Megasthenes and the Arthashastra.

Concept used. This is an argument essay built on a quotation. You must discuss Sircar's claim: show how richly inscriptions reflect Indian life (supporting the statement), then weigh the limitations (qualifying it). A balanced ``largely true, but with limits'' answer scores best.

In support of Sircar: how much inscriptions reveal:

1. Political life. Inscriptions record dynasties, titles and events, Asoka's edicts on dhamma and administration, the Prayaga Prashasti praising Samudragupta, and Rudradaman's record on the Sudarshana lake.
2. Economic life. They mention land grants, taxes and exemptions (the Danguna grant), irrigation works (the Sudarshana lake repaired by Rudradaman), trade, guilds and coins.
3. Social life. Votive inscriptions name occupations, washing folk, weavers, goldsmiths, scribes, and record donations by women (Nagapiya, a goldsmith's wife) and by ordinary people.
4. Religious life. Gifts to Buddhist, Jaina and Brahmanical institutions, and grants to Brahmanas (agraharas), show belief and patronage.

Qualifying Sircar: the limits:

1. Inscriptions focus on grand, unique events; routine agriculture and the everyday joys and sorrows of ordinary people find little or no mention.
2. They carry the bias of the person who commissioned them, usually the powerful, so many voices are missing.
3. Many inscriptions are faint, damaged, lost or undeciphered, so only a fraction of the record survives.

Sircar's claim is largely justified: inscriptions reflect political, economic, social and religious life, from Asoka's dhamma and the Prayaga Prashasti to land grants, guilds and donations by women and workers. But it overstates the case: inscriptions favour grand events and the powerful, omit routine daily life, and survive only in part, so they must be read with other sources.

Concept used. Notions of kingship are the ideas a ruler projected about his own authority. In the post-Mauryan period (after c. 185 BCE), new chiefdoms and kingdoms arose, and rulers of often obscure origins found fresh ways to claim high status. Discuss the main strategies, with examples.

1. Claiming divine status. The clearest strategy was to identify with deities. The Kushanas (c. first century BCE to first century CE), ruling from Central Asia to northwest India, installed colossal statues of their rulers in shrines (at Mat near Mathura, and in Afghanistan), suggesting they thought themselves godlike. Many Kushana kings took the title devaputra, ``son of god,'' possibly inspired by Chinese rulers who called themselves sons of heaven.
2. Projecting power through coins and sculpture. The Kushanas' notions of kingship are best seen in their coins and sculpture, which show the ruler in a commanding, divine manner.
3. Prashastis (eulogies) by court poets. Gupta rulers were praised in prashastis. In the Prayaga Prashasti, composed by Harishena for Samudragupta, the king is called superhuman, ``without an antagonist on earth,'' equal to the gods Kubera, Varuna, Indra and Yama, and even Purusha, the Supreme Being.
4. Kingship resting on samantas. Larger states from the fourth century (including the Guptas) depended on samantas who held local resources, offered homage and gave military support. Powerful samantas could become kings; weak kings could be reduced to subordination, so kingship was bound up with these relations.
5. Kings as ``supermen'' from weakness. Some historians argue kings projected themselves as superhuman because they were losing control over their samantas, presenting at least a façade of power.

In the post-Mauryan period kings claimed authority by identifying with gods (Kushanas, title devaputra, colossal statues), by projecting power through coins and sculpture, and through prashastis like Harishena's Prayaga Prashasti that made Samudragupta godlike. Kingship also rested on samantas, and some rulers posed as supermen precisely because their real control was weakening.

Concept used. ``To what extent'' asks you to weigh how far farming really changed between c. 600 BCE and 600 CE. List the new practices that increased production, then qualify them: the changes were real but uneven, and they widened differences in rural society.

The transformations (how practices changed):

1. Plough agriculture and the iron ploughshare. From about the sixth century BCE, plough farming spread in fertile alluvial valleys like the Ganga and Kaveri. The iron-tipped ploughshare turned the heavy alluvial soil in high-rainfall areas, raising productivity.
2. Transplantation of paddy. In parts of the Ganga valley, rice output rose sharply through transplantation (growing saplings, then replanting them in flooded fields), though this meant back-breaking labour.
3. Irrigation. Production was also raised by wells, tanks and (less often) canals. Both communities and individuals (often powerful men and kings) built irrigation works and recorded them in inscriptions (for example, the Sudarshana lake).

The limits (how far the change reached):

1. The iron plough was not used everywhere. In semi-arid Punjab and Rajasthan it was not adopted until the twentieth century; in hilly north-eastern and central tracts people kept to hoe agriculture, better suited to that land.
2. Benefits were very uneven. Growing differentiation appeared among farmers, landless labourers, small peasants (often gahapatis) and large landholders, with village headmen and big landowners gaining power. Early Tamil texts likewise name vellalar, uzhavar and adimai.
3. Land grants reshaped the countryside. From the early centuries CE, land grants (often to Brahmanas and religious institutions) created new rural elites and changed relations between cultivators and the state.

Agriculture changed substantially: the iron ploughshare, paddy transplantation and irrigation by wells, tanks and canals raised production. But the change was uneven, the plough skipped semi-arid and hilly zones, benefits were unequal, and land grants created new rural elites, so the transformation was real but far from universal.

Concept used. This is a map-comparison task. Map 1 shows the early states (mahajanapadas) and their capitals; Map 2 shows the distribution of Asokan inscriptions. You overlay the two: which mahajanapada areas fall inside the Mauryan reach, and whether Asokan inscriptions are found there.

1. Mahajanapadas likely within the Mauryan Empire. The Mauryan Empire grew from Magadha and extended very widely (Chandragupta reached Afghanistan and Baluchistan; Asoka conquered Kalinga). So mahajanapadas such as Magadha, Koshala, Kashi, Vajji, Anga, Malla, Vatsa, Chedi, Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Shurasena, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboja would mostly have lain within or under Mauryan control.
2. Asokan inscriptions in these areas. Yes. Map 2 shows Asokan inscriptions across this same belt: near Magadha and Pataliputra (Sahasram, Sarnath), in the Gandhara/northwest region (Taxila, Shahbazgarhi, Mansehra), in Avanti (Ujjayini, near Sanchi and Bairat), and along the Kalinga coast (Jaugada, Dhauli). So the inscriptions cluster in the very regions the old mahajanapadas occupied.

A quick overlay (use it to match each mahajanapada region to its nearby Asokan inscription site):

Mahajanapadas likely within the Mauryan Empire: Magadha, Koshala, Kashi, Vajji, Anga, Malla, Vatsa, Chedi, Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Shurasena, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboja. Yes, Asokan inscriptions are found across these areas, Taxila and Shahbazgarhi (northwest), Sahasram and Sarnath (core), Ujjayini and Bairat (Avanti), and Jaugada and Dhauli (Kalinga).

Concept used. This is a project (sources comparison). There is no single correct answer; you are marked on how carefully you collect modern statements about public works and compare them with ancient inscriptions about similar works (like the Sudarshana lake repaired by Rudradaman). The guide below shows how to gather and compare.

1. Collect for a month. Cut out every newspaper statement by government officials about public works, roads, dams, canals, bridges, irrigation, schools. Paste each with its date and source.
2. Note four things per report. (a) the resources required (money, labour, materials), (b) how they are mobilised (budget, contractors, taxes), (c) the objective, and (d) who issues the statement and how/why it is communicated (press, to inform or take credit).
3. Compare with inscriptions. Set these beside the chapter's inscriptions. Similarities: both record public works and often the ruler's or government's role and credit. Differences: inscriptions are permanent records on stone or copper, usually glorifying one ruler, and reach few people; newspapers are printed daily, reach a mass public, and can be questioned by an independent press.

Collect a month of newspaper statements on public works; for each note the resources, how they are mobilised, the objective, and who communicates them and why. Then compare with the chapter's inscriptions: both record public works and the ruler's role, but inscriptions are permanent, ruler-glorifying and reach few, while newspapers are daily, public and open to scrutiny.

Concept used. This is a project (numismatics). Numismatics is the study of coins, their images, scripts, metal and find-context. There is no single right answer; you observe five modern notes and coins and compare them with the chapter's ancient coins (the punch-marked, Kushana, Yaudheya and Gupta coins).

1. Collect five. Choose a spread of present-day coins and notes of different denominations, materials and sizes.
2. Describe each, obverse and reverse. For every piece note what is on the front and back: portraits or emblems, figures, scripts and languages, numerals, the issuing authority, plus size, shape and metal or paper.
3. Report common features and differences. Common: all carry the issuer's name or emblem, a value, and scripts. Differences: denomination, material, size, languages used and the images chosen.
4. Compare with the chapter's coins. Similarities: ancient coins too bore symbols, scripts and the issuer's identity (punch-marked symbols; the Indo-Greeks were the first to put kings' names and images on coins; Kushana gold matched Roman weights). Differences: ancient coins were hand-struck in gold, silver and copper with one or few languages, while modern money is machine-made, multilingual, and includes paper notes.

Collect five modern coins and notes, describe the obverse and reverse of each (images, scripts, languages, size, material, issuer), and report common features (issuer, value, scripts) and differences (denomination, material, language). Compare with the chapter's ancient coins: both use symbols, scripts and issuer identity to project authority, but ancient coins were hand-struck metal while modern money is machine-made and includes paper notes.