INTRODUCTION #
The process of land grant as a mode of payment led to the change in the economic dimensions. It lead to the decentralization of central Authority, Rise of the Intermediaries and the beginning of the feudal system. Lack of trade, decline of the use of coins and Urban decay was followed by local self sufficient sectors, and use and growth of numerous cultures, Identifies and new languages.
INDIAN FEUDALISM #
From the post-Maurya period, and especially from Gupta times, India’s political and adminis- trative developments tended to feudalise the state apparatus.
What is feudalism? #
In Europeans sense, feudalism describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs. However, in context with ancient India, the system gradually developed from the beginning of the land grants. The practice of making land grants to the Brahmanas was a custom, sanctified by the injunctions laid down in the Dharmashashtras, Epics and Puranas. The Anusasana Parva of the Mahabharata devotes a whole chapter to the praise of making gifts of land (Bhumidanaprasamsa).
The Land Grants & Administrative Rights #
The earliest land grants belonging to the first century BC were given to the Buddhist priests and
Brahmanas and other religious establishments. How- ever, in the post-Guptas period even administrative officials were granted land. The landed beneficiaries were given both powers of taxation and coercion, leading to the disintegration of the central authority. The secular recipients of the grants and the auton- omous holders of land are generally termed as fief holders and free holders. The major outcome was decentralization.
The early Pali texts of the pre-Maurya period refer to the villages granted to the Brahmanas by the rulers of Kosala and Magadha. A term used for such grants was “Brahamdeya”. The Earliest epigraphic record of a land grants in India is a Satavahana inscription of the first century BC, which refers to the grant of a village as a gift in the Ashvamedha Sacrifice. However, it is not clear, whether the administrative or revenue rights of these lands were also given to those priests or not. It has been guessed that the administrative rights were perhaps given up for the first time in the grants made to Buddhist monks by the Satavahana ruler – Gautamiputra Satakarni in the second century AD. Such a land grant included the rights that :
- The royal troops could not enter such land granted.
- The government officials and district police was not supposed to disturb such lands.
From the period of later Mauryas, the land grants included the transfer of all sources of revenue, and the surrender of police and administrative functions. The grants of the second century AD mention that
the transfer of the king’s control only over salt, which implies that he retained certain other sources of revenue. But in some other grants, it was recorded that the donor (King) gave up his control over almost all sources of revenue, including pastures, mines including hidden treasures and deposits.
Then, the donor not only abandoned his reve- nues but also the right to govern the inhabitants of the villages that were granted. This practice became more prevalent in the Gupta period. There are many instances of grants of apparently settled villages made to the Brahmanas during the Gupta era. In such grants, the residents, including the cultivators and artisans, were expressly asked by their respec- tive rulers not only to pay the customary taxes to the donees, but also to obey their commands. All this provides clear evidence of the surrender of the administrative power of the state. One of the important aspect of the Kings sovereignty was that he used to retain the rights of the punishing the culprits. In the Post-Gupta times, the king made over to the Brahmanas not only this right, but also his right to punish all offences against family, property, person, etc.
We see that, by giving such privileges, the state was bound to disintegrate. Out of the seven organs of the state power mentioned in literary and epigraphic sources, taxation system and coercive power based on the army are rightly regarded as two vital elements. If they are abandoned, the state power disintegrates. This was the system created by the grants made to the Brahmins. The land was granted for as long as the existence of the sun and the moon, which implies the permanent breakup of the integrity of the state.
The above discussion makes it clear that in the Post-Gupta period, the Brahamdeya carried freedom from taxes, Administrative freedom and also the freedom from punishments (Abhayantarasiddhi). The widespread practice of making land grants in the Gupta period paved the way for the rise of Brahmin feudatories, who performed administrative functions not under the authority of the royal officers but almost independently. What was implicit in earlier grants became explicit in grants from about 1000AD; and well recognised in the administrative systems of the Turks.
The implications were many but the major implication was the creation of powerful intermedi- aries wielding considerable economic and political power. As the number of the land-owning Brah- mins went up, some of them gradually shed their priestly functions and turned their chief attention to the management of land. Thus, their case secular functions became more important than religious functions. The comprehensive competence based on centralised control, which was the hallmark of the Maurya state gave way to decentralisation in the post-Maurya and Gupta periods. The functions of the collection of taxes, levy of forced labour, regulation of mines, agriculture, etc., together with those of the maintenance of law and order, and defence which were hitherto performed by the state officials, were now systematically abandoned, first to the priestly class and later to the warrior class.
Thus, the main implications of the Indian Feu- dalism in early medieval period are as follows:
Political decentralization: The seed of decen- tralization that was sown in the form of Land grants turned into a vividly branched political organiza- tion made up semi-autonomous rulers, Samantas, Mahasamantas and others such as Rajpurushas.
Emergence of new landed intermediatories: The emergence of landed intermediaries- a dominant landholding social group absent in the early histor- ical period- is linked to the practice of land grants which began with the Satavahana.
Changes in agrarian relations: Free vaishya peasants dominated the agrarian structure in early historical India and labour services provided by the Shudra. But, from the sixth century AD onwards the peasants stuck to the land granted to the beneficiar- ies because they were asked not to leave the village granted to the beneficiaries or migrate to tax-free village. This resulted in the immobility of the pop- ulation and isolation from the rest of the world. Its implication was very profound such as development of localized customs, languages and rituals.
OTHER CHANGES IN SOCIETY #
The social changes in the early medieval India were mainly the product of certain economic devel- opments, such as land grants and large scale trans- fers of land revenues and land to both secular and
religious elements, decline of trade and commerce, loss of mobility of artisans, peasants and traders, unequal distribution of land and power etc.
Proliferation of castes #
Increasing pride of birth, characteristic of feudal society, and the accompanying self sufficient village economy, which prevented both spatial and occu- pational mobility, gave rise to thousands of castes in India.
The changes in economy were also a result of emergence of certain new castes and decline of certain old ones. For example, the constant transfer of land of land revenues made by princes to priests, temples and officials led to the rise and growth of the scribe or the Kayastha caste which undermined the monopoly of Brahmans as writers and scribes.
Similarly, the decline of trade and commerce led to the decline in the position of the Vaishyas. The process of proliferation and multiplication of castes was yet another marked feature of the social life of the period.
Many new communities, which are known to us by the generic term Rajputs, were also recognized as Kshatriyas during the period. The foreign elements, which could not be put in any three higher classes, were naturally designated as the Shudras.
The guilds of artisans gradually hardened into castes due to lack of mobility in post-Guptas times. The maximum affected people were the Shudra and the mixed castes.
Position of Brahmins #
The Brahmins stood at the top of the social hierarchy during and post Gupta period. They had regained their power and were responsible for rein- terpreting the regulatory canons of life as laid down by the earlier texts.
However, Brahmins had numerous subsections now divided on the basis of many criteria such as knowledge of Vedas etc.
Getting birth in a Brahamin family was a priv- ilege. Brahmins had freedom from death-sentence, exemption form taxes, precedence on the road, lesser punishment for certain offences in comparison with other castes. Many writers have documented the
exemption of the Brahmans from capital punish- ment. The most severe punishment for a Brahmin was banishment. When a Brahman killed a man, the former had only to fast, pray and give alms. On the other hand, if somebody killed a Brahmin, he was ought to be greatest sinner and performed the worst crime. No punishment or remorse could wipe off the Brahman-hatya, the greatest crime of those periods.
Position of Vaishya #
Vaishyas in the early medieval India were almost degraded to the Shudra community. In fact, Alberuni also did not find any difference between the Vaishyas and Shudra.
If you are a Vaishya or a Shudra, and you dared to recite the Vedas, your ruler would cut off your tongue!
One difference was that the Shudra had freedom to sell all kinds of goods, but the Vaishya were for- bidden to carry on transactions in some specified articles like salt, wine, meat, curds, swords, arrows, water, idols etc.
Position of Shudras #
Shudras were the most numerous sections in the community and their number increased from age to age. Some of the Shudras were regarded as mixed castes, born of unions of upper castes males with lower caste females or vice versa.
There were eight Shudra castes called “Ash- tashudras” viz. Vyadha, Bhada, Kola, Koncha, Haddi, Doma, Jala, Bagatita, Vyalagrahi and Chandala.
However, there was another Shudra caste also whose position was lower then the above eight castes. These people were called the Antyajas. These Antyajas were beyond and below the the four orders and four Varnas of the Indian society.
Antyajas : In the days of the composition of the early smritis, untouchables were called Antya- jas. The Vedvyasamriti counts twelve names and includes all those who eat cow’s flesh as Antyajas. Alberuni described eight groups of people, who were members of crafts and professions, but did not belong to the four-fold caste system, namely wash- erman, shoemaker, juggler, basket and shieldmaker, sailor, angler, hunter of wild animals and birds, and
weaver. These correspond to Rajaka, Charmakara, Nata or Sailushika, Buruda, Navika, Kaivarta, Bhilla and Kuvindaka, who have been regarded as Chandals and Antyajas in all early Smriti texts and as Shudras by Manu. Thus, they belonged to the lowest caste.
Position of Marriage & Women #
The knowledge about the traditions prevalent in the institution of marriage in that era comes from two works viz. Smritichandrika and Smrityarthasara. The former says that the intercaste marriage is forbidden in Kaliyuga. Savarna marriages are necessary for the performance of religious rites, while Asavarna marriages are of an inferior type as being dictated by desire.
The later says that the marriage of Brahmins with Shudra women forbidden not the same in other castes.
The polygamy was prevalent in the royal class and has been well documented in Vaijayanti.
The women’s position is far degraded from that in early eras. The husband and other male relations, to begin with must so arrange things that the wife never becomes independent. The wife must also be guarded not only against physical but also against mental unchastity for the sake of her offspring. wife’s right to maintenance in case of her superses- sion , they provide for her residence in her husband’s house as well as her maintenance even in the event of her committing adultery. When the wife is guilty of slight adultery, she must be maintained, though deprived of conjugal rights, till her performance of a penance.
Literature and science #
During early medieval period, there was a con- siderable development in the literature. However, the quality of the content in them was not of a high order. It was basically of general imitative and reproductive character. The list is very big, however, here we note some of the most significant artworks.
Naishadhiyacharitam of Shriharsha is the most outstanding epic of this period, written under the patronage of Gahadawala king Jayachandra of Kan- nauj.
Rajatarangini of Kalhana is unique as the only known attempt at true history in the whole of sur-
viving Sanskrit literature. A few short poems were also written during this period.
The Gita-Govindam of Jayadeva is known as the most musical song ever written in Sanskrit.
The Aryasaptashati of Govardhanacharya is an erotic poem following the tradition of Gath- asaptashati of Hala.
Lalitavigraharaja-Nataka was a drama by Somadeva, the Harikeli-Nataka by Visaladeva, the Prasanna-Raghava by Jayadeva.
In Lexicology, the Abidhana Chintamani, Deshi- Namamala, Anekarthasamgraha and Nighantushesha of Hemachandra are of worth note.
Bhoja had written the Rajamriganka on astron- omy.
The famous mathematician Bhaskaracharya flourished in the south in the twelfth century. His Siddhanta-Shiromani comprises four parts; Lilavati, Vijaganita, Grahaganita and Gola. The last deals with astronomy.
A very significant idea in the Siddhanta-Shiro- mansi is that of perpetual motion, which was trans- mitted by Islam about AD 1200 to Europe where in course of time it led to the development of the concept of power technology.
The Rasarnava is a work on Tantra, which deals with metallic preparations and alchemy. The Dakarnava is a Buddhist tantric work composed in Apabhramsha. The Sadhanamala, a Buddhist tantric work belongs to the twelfth century.
The field of erotic literature saw some devel- opment. Ratirahasya by Kokkaka, Haramekhala by Mahuka, Rativilasa by Jayamangal etc. are some important works on Kamashastra.
In the field of music we have Matanga, Dhatu- patha as codified by Bhimasena, Kuttanimatam of Damodargupta etc.
Bhatta utpala wrote a work on Vastuvidya.
On cosmetics we have Gandhashatra by Padmashri in his work on erotics. The Vishnud- harmottara gives much attention to painting was the chitrasutra mentioned by Damodargupta. The Aparajita-Prichcha is a work on architecture which appears to have been written in Gujarat in AD 1200.
The Sangita-Ratnakara of Sharangadeva was written in the 13th century in the south. The aghvarhan- niti-shastra of Hemachandra is a work on political science. Another work on the duties and obligations of princes was the Rajaniti-Kamadhenu of Gopala.
Development of local cultures #
The foundation of various kingdoms and fief- doms whose people were generally confined to them only led the development of localized culture, making India a diverse geographical area.
The Hunas and other foreign elements were absorbed into the Indian society and cleared the ground for the rise of larger defined units such as Rajputana. Similarly, Bengal, which was earlier divided into two parts viz. Gauda and Vanga, later the whole region was named after Vanga.
The inhabitants of the different nations differed in customs, clothing and language. For example, the Kavalayamala (8th century) notes the existence of 18 major nationalists and describes the anthropological character of 16 peoples.
Development of Vernacular Languages #
Though the Sanskrit continued to be used by the ruling class at the higher administrative levels, this language later become complex, verbose and ornate. The Apabhramsha started to differentiate into proto-Hindi, Proto-Bengali, Proto-Rajasthani proto-Gujarati, Proto-Marathi, Proto-Assamese, Proto-Ordya, Proto-Maithili languages.
From the 6th century onwards, the linguistic variation became very fast because of lack of inter-regional communication and mobility. In the tribal areas, the Brahmanas imposed various forms of Sanskrit on the existing Aryan and Pre-Aryan dialects. The consequential interaction gave rise to regional languages. The migrating Brahmanas also enriched the regional languages. This resulted in the development of regional scripts and regional grammar.
Development of Regional Art & Culture #
In the field of art and architecture, this period ushered in a new age marked by regional styles in sculpture and construction of temples, which became particularly prominent in south India from the eighth century onwards.
The post-gupta iconography prominently displays a divine hierarchy, which reflects the pyramidal rank in society.
The Vishnu, Shiva and Durga became the supreme deities, lording over many other divinities of unequal sizes. The Mahayajnas and danas (dona- tions) were gradually replaced by a system known as Puja. Puja was interlinked to the doctrine of Bhakti, which became a distinct feature of medieval religion. Both puja and Bhakti became integral ingredients of tantricism, which arose due to the acculturation of the tribal people through large-scale religious land-grants.
Contribution of Al-Beruni : Alberuni, who visited India with the Turkish invader Mahmud Ghazni and his army, has given a vivid account of India society during those times. He visited India frequently and stayed in different parts of the country. Assisted by learned scholars of India, he translated from Sanskrit a few Indian works on astronomy, especially the Paulisasidhanta, Brihatsamhita and Laghujatakam of Varahmihira.Probably he was the first to introduce the treasure of the Sanskrit literature to the Islamic world. His Tahkik-i-Hind (Reality of Hindustan) is the most important work in which he gives a good graphic description of India, as he had seen. While narrating the social conditions of India Alberuni observes that the Hindu society was based on caste system. He describes the institution of marriage, the position of women, the Hindu fasts and festivals. He observed that Hindus have numerous books about all the branches of science. He provides us long lists of famous books of Indians astronomy, medicine, alchemy, etc.
