Colonial Constructions and Orientalist Readings Modern writings of Indian history began with colonial perceptions of the Indian

n past saw India only as a Hindu and Sanskritic civilisation said that Indians lacked a history because their conception of time was cyclical as opposed to linear two strands Orientalists and the Utilitarians primarily officers of the British ast India !ompany administrative functions re"uired they be knowledgeable learnt the languages and the history bothered by Hinduism because it was unlike any religion they know hence suggestions that Hinduism as it is formulated and perceived today was born out of this reformulation also tried to work out similarities between Sanskrit# $atin and %reek meanwhile# &omanticist movement in urope viewed the Orient as an escape from the Industrial &evolution however this enthusiasm gradually changed into a belief about the superiority of the Occident Oriental civilisations seen as having been once great# but now in decline Indian culture described as uniform# based on Sanskrit te'ts emphasised non(historical aspects like unchanging continuity and concern with metaphysics and philosophy as opposed to practical matters genesis of the )spiritual east* also comforted Indians+ Colonial Constructions: A Utilitarian Critique Mill and Macaulay based in ngland Mill classified Indian past into the Hindu civilisation# Muslim civilisation and the British period value of rational thought and individualism absent India*s culture seen as stagnant despotic but this backwardness could be remedied through appropriate legislation Oriental despotism villages isolated and self sufficient whose surplus was taken by the despot governing through an autocratic bureaucracy which controlled irrigation no private ownership of land# that the ,ing owned all the land+ India as the Other ,arl Mar'*s -siatic mode of production .ustification of colonialism since only that could produce capitalism and the conse"uent class struggle in the absence of private property# o intermediary groups# nor classes or class conflicts that could lead to a dialectical change caste system believed to be closely linked to religion /eber lack of puritan ethic in Hinduism# and hence no capitalism+ Discovering the Indian Past Much of the early Indian history constructed through Sanskrit te'ts with the aid of the Brahmans e+g+# Dharma-shastras oral traditions not taken into account# said to belong to primitive people te'tual evidence challenged by other sources genealogies and local chronicles brahmi script numismatics ( Antecedents 0alaeolithic hunter(gatherers stone tools and signs of settlements flaked(off large pebbles Mesolithic period use of microliths beginnings of settlements bows and arrows greater confidence in relation to the environment by use of other materials for tools drier uplands crude handmade pottery storage bin burials with grave goods ideas of an after life bands of people with possible demarcation of families constant migration in search of food cave painting 1eolithic pattern beginnings of agriculture and domestication of animals storage of food needed for a growing population more sedentary population concentration of people# hence urbanisation suggestion that transition to agriculture made by women surplus food used for e'change gradual stratification improvements in tools# now polished polished stone a'es wattle and daub huts wheat# barley# millets and rice domestication of cattle# sheep and goats potentiality for chiefdoms and clan labour as societies become more comple'# non(kin labour replace kin(labour controlling and organising the functions of the chief+ Indus(Saraswati dispute given the dense cluster of sites in the area than in Baluchistan# should it be called the Indus( Saraswati !ivilisation2 However# the crucial factor is not the number of sites# but the nature of these sites the role of the site in urbanisation given the earlier and more widespread evidence for evolution towards urbanising in the north( west# the initial impetus lay in the north west+ -lso in terms of access to raw materials used in craft(production# and in controlling trade+ !halcolithic period copper and bron3e( smelting metal ore use of a script+ Indus 4alley earliest e'cavations at Mohen.o(daro and Harappa largest cities are a hundred hectares division pre(Harappan 56777 8977 B!:# Mature Harappan 58977 ;<77 B!:# $ate Harappan 5;=>7 B!: very e'tensive trade with Mesopotamia Harappan seals# beads and weights found in Mesopotamian sites Mesopotamian references to the land of Meluhha cities maintained from surplus produced in the countryside distinctive pottery cities were centres for production of crafted items that were traded workshops graded weights and measures dockyard at $othal sophisticated sense of civic planning and organisation smaller citadel area man(made brick platforms formed the foundations# possibly to prevent floods houses had individual wells# bathing places# drains defence walls and bastions possibility of large scale deforestation due to establishment of the cities wheat and barley canals construction would have needed large(scale organised labour governmental authority possibly twin capitals at Mohen.o(?aro and Harappa possibly city(states most plausible is to assume a fle'ible relationships between the cities

given the differentiated si3es earlier governed by chiefs o clans later more comple' availability of weapons is limited seals small# flat# s"uare or rectangular made of steatite pictorial motifs script read from left to right script also on copper amulets animals on the seals unicorn# possibly the rhinoceros ( bull and elephant tigers horse absent skeleton possibly that of an ass horse unimportant ritually and functionally absence of recognisable religious buildings and of elaborate burials possibility of fertility rituals seated figure# possibly Shiva link tenuous perhaps contributed to the later mythology sculptures one that of a young and spirited woman possible priest simplicity of burials+ ?ecline of the cities once attributed to invading -ryans little archaeological evidence Indra# destroyer of cities -ryan(dasa hostility however# the more probably e'planation is urban decline# coe'istence of different languages and cultures# the filtering of Indo(-ryan speakers into north India through small(scale migrations skeletons people had died of diseases such as severe anaemia possibility of environmental changes long duration of severe flooding climatic change more generalised de(urbanisation with the dying out of trade re"uirements and the conse"uent political collapse skirmishes in the northwest decline of cities did not necessarily mean decline of the culture+ !halcolithic cultures Bur3ahom and %ufkral pit dwellings carnelian beads depictions of a horned animal on pottery possible link with the Indus civilisation hunting scene depicted on a stone engraving Bur3ahom has large upright stones %anges 0lain Ochre coloured pottery 5O!0: linked to Harappa# but links are tenuous also# 0ainted %rey /are at some sites there is an overlap between late Harappan pottery and 0ainted %rey /are suggests an introduction of the 0ainted %rey /are somewhat earlier than the first millennium the later phase of the 0ainted %rey /are is associated with the use of iron this reveals a minimal continuity from Harappan ideas in this area ast copper ob.ects like spearheads# harpoons etc+ domestication of cattle+ Study of chalcolithic cultures suggests certain common characteristics close connection between a settlement and the environment cultivation of rice organisation of a village families coalescing into clans chiefdoms worship of female cult figures burials within the hut Towards Chie tains and !ingdo"s @e'tual sources for the first time Indo(-ryan language Indo( uropean family of languages cognate of old Iranian similarities with the Zend Avesta references to Indra introduced the horse and the chariot s changed to h great similarity in the language date of the &ig 4eda second millennium B! would corroborate its closeness to the language and concepts of the Avesta+ @he Indus(Saraswati controversyA &ecently# it has been argues that the date of the &ig 4eda should be taken back to Harappan or even pre(Harappan times# and its authors e"uated with the creators of the Indus civilisation+ @his would support the )-ryan* authors of the &ig(4eda being indigenous to northern India# and also the Indo(-ryan language+ 0roved false both from the point of view of linguistic as well as archaeological evidence+ One is whether the artefacts and monuments of the Harappa culture are described in the &ig 4edaB the other is whether the concepts implicit in organising the Harappan system of urban settlement find their counterpart in the &ig 4eda+ ( %rid pattern in town plan# e'tensive mud(brick platforms as a base for large structures# monumental buildings# comple' fortifications# elaborate drainage systems# the use of mud(bricks and fired bricks in buildings# granaries or warehouses# a tank for rituals# carnelian beads# cutting of steatite seals# terracotta female figurines all absent+ ( &ig 4eda lacks a sense of civic life does not refer to non(kin labour e'change system weights and measures terracotta figures are alien and the fertility cult meets with strong disapproval fire altars described are of a shape and si3e not easily identifiable at Harappan sites as altars no familiarity from mythology no mention of seals or a script geography limited to the Sapt Sindhu region presence of a horse+ &ig 4eda hymns memorised meticulously and transmitted orally geographical knowledge can be ascertained by references to various rivers references to the dasas 5cultivators: and panis 5traders: as different &ig 4edic people pastoral# practiced some agriculture with the ?asas# sometimes confrontations# sometimes negotiation bilingual period+ vidence of migration references in the Avesta to a distant homeland the geographical direction goes from central -sia to north India and among the places mentioned towards the end of the itinerary is the heptahindu geographical areas through which they travelled Hara'vati and Harayu Saraswati and Sarayu+

$ack of familiarity with flora and funa is another indication rice was not known to begin with lion was known earlier than the tiger or the rhinoceros this would point to original habitat being further west and north elephant looked upon as a curiosity+ Introduction of horse e"uestrian activities raids inter(tribal warfare migrations continued ,uru(0anchalas /estern %anges+ -gro(pastoralism remained the main occupation cow was a measure of value many earlier linguistic e'pressions associated with cattle eating of beef reserved for special occasions economic value of the cow may have contributed to the cow later becoming sacred and inviolable horse also held pride of place mythology authors of &ig 4eda also familiar with agriculture burning and cutting of forests shift from wheat cultivation to rice in the beginning# land was worked by clans gradually decreased to families carpenter maker of chariots# builder of huts metalsmiths+ $ater 4edic corpus described conditions that are a prelude to urbanisation closely placed small settlements# largely agricultural agricultural surplus leading to e'change# which resulted in trade+ Smallest unit kula patriarchal early marriages not customary 4edic te'ts did not attribute much power to %oddesses# who remained in the wings symbolic immolation of widow worship of -gni mud(plastered walls for houses clans initially organised as patriarchal groups the most able protector was the ra.a gradually began to assume privileges that were later associated with kingship assemblies of clansmen vidhatas# samitis# sabhas gift( giving important also means of redistributing loot ra.a chief )to shine* or )to lead* change to kingship linked with rituals and the emergence of a state originally military leader no claim to special rights later emerged as the patron of the sacrifice hence both competition and interweaving of the authority of the ra.a ad the Brahman office of the ra.a gradually became hereditary primogeniture chiefship began to be associated with territory offices of purohita and senani (